Sarah vs The Alternate Universe
by Wepdiggy
Summary: In a very alternate universe, up is down and down is up. Chuck is an agent, and Sarah's old friend Jill has sent her the Intersect. And since we switched it up, we're on the east coast now. Eventual CHARAH. AU obviously.
1. Chapter 1

_**Summary: **__In a very alternate universe, up is down and down is up. Chuck is an agent, and Sarah's old friend Jill has sent her the Intersect. And since we switched it up, we're on the east coast now. Eventual Charah._

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Chuck or any of the characters from Chuck. The mere fact that I would bastardize the story like this should be evidence of that._

_**A/N: **__Okay, I said I needed something else to write for right now, so we're going with this. In the Challenges and Requests thread on the TWoP Kicked Us Out but We Still Love Chuck forum here at FF, __ArnabBarua suggested someone pick up a story in which everything in the Chuckverse was topsy-turby. So this is my attempt at making Chuck into Sarah, Sarah into Chuck, and everything as we no it flipped completely on its ear. I'm mainly writing this so that I don't get bogged down in too much angst writing my Ashes fic, because I don't want to go down the depression spiral over just writing. So I'll get my fluff out here. What does that mean for all you shippers out there? It means there should be a butt load of Charah. I got someone to look over this, but I didn't give them much time, so all mistakes are my own. Now, please enjoy chapter one of __**Sarah vs. The Alternate Universe.**_

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**_**Cast in order of appearance**

**Chuck Bartowski.........Zachary Levi  
Director Graham.............Tony Todd  
Devon Walker.........Ryan McPartlin  
Sarah Walker...Yvonne Strahovski  
Anna Wu...........................Julia Ling  
Jill Roberts..........Jordana Brewster  
Alex Forrest.................Tricia Helfer**

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**Agent Charles Bartowski's Apartment  
Washington, DC  
September 25, 2007  
1:08 AM EST**

Looking around his sparse abode, Chuck found it difficult to escape the memories of Jill that still hung in the air. Ever since being paired together, they'd had their little squabbles, but every fight had always been worked out. He didn't know what had gone so differently this time, but whatever it was had caused Jill to pack up everything she had in his apartment and move it out. _So is it for good this time?_

That thought, and many more almost just like it were the reason for the bottle of Wild Turkey 101 that rested in his hand nearly half empty. He looked down to the glass appendage he'd adopted to try to forget the pain. _Well, a little more than half empty now, _he thought grimly as he took another long pull of the bourbon.

His reverie was broken by the sound of a phone ringing. _Damn that phone and its incessant ringing. Can't it see I'm busy here?_

Reluctantly, Chuck picked up the device and stared blearily at the display. In his drunken stupor it was hard to make out the numbers. Eventually he registered that it was work calling. _Can't those assholes wait until the morning? When the hell am I supposed to get sloshed if they're calling at all hours of the night?_

Finally, against his better intoxicated judgment, he picked up the call.

"Bartowski secure," he muttered into the receiver.

"Graham secure." _Dammit, it's Graham. Now I can't even hang up if I don't want to talk. _"Agent Bartowski, I need to see you in my office immediately."

"Immediately? Director, do you know what time it is?" The alcohol was talking in ways Chuck knew he'd never talk to his superior. He certainly wouldn't talk like that to the man who'd once saved his life by recruiting him into the agency.

"Now, Bartowski! It's urgent. It relates to Agent Roberts." _Goddammit! What the hell has she gotten me into now? Well, if it is that urgent and it involves her then I suppose I have no choice._

He heaved a deep sigh and rubbed his face to try and clear the cobwebs. "I'm on the way Sir."

One hour and forty-five minutes later, Chuck knocked on the doors to the office of the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. "Enter," he heard from the other side. And so enter he did. He strode across the room with a dignity and grace that had only become his through hours of training.

"What the hell took you so long," boomed the imposing African-American man sitting behind the desk.

"Don't blame me; blame these cab drivers in our nation's capital. _They _made me late." Okay, it wasn't the best excuse ever, but Chuck was having a difficult time conjuring up anything else in his current state.

"And just why the hell did you take a cab? I believe you have a car Agent."

"Because…I'm drunk Director. And although I've been out of country for most of the past four years, I don't think they've legalized drinking and driving." If his words had not told the story, his one squinted eye, accusatory finger pointing, and slightly slurred speech would have done it for him.

"Well you need to get your shit together. We have a major problem. Jill stole and destroyed the Intersect."

"What is the Intersect?" It almost seemed like he should know the answer to this, but better to ask and know exactly what he was being bored with.

"The computer? Has all the secrets in it?" Chuck's face was still one of confusion. "The entire basis for Project Omaha?" Apparently that did it as a show of recognition passed over the agent's features.

"Oooohhh. Now I gotcha. So what does that mean for me?" It's not that he _wanted_ to be belligerent to his boss, but it was late and he was drunk.

"Well Agent Bartowski, the NSA suspects you to be involved as well in the rogue action." That got Chuck's attention. He hadn't seen Jill in almost a week when she'd walked away from him, but if he was being considered a possible accomplice…

"Well what the hell are we waiting on? I need to find Jill and get back that Intersect thing so I can clear my name!" This was not good. The NSA wouldn't hesitate to put out a sanction on him, no matter how good of an agent he was.

"That won't be necessary Chuck." Graham met the other man's questioning stare and his features seemed to uncharacteristically soften. "Jill's dead."

"Jill's dead?" His mouth moved to form the words, but now sound emitted from his lips. _How can she be dead? _"Then, what am I going to do?"

"We have solid intelligence on where the Intersect has been sent." The Director was back to his stoic and commanding normal personality.

"I'm sorry, sent sir? She had time to Fed-Ex the package and no one caught her?" This was getting weirder and weirder for Chuck.

"No, it was sent in an e-mail Agent Bartowski. We believe it to be headed for her college roommate." Graham tossed a dossier across the desk to the waiting agent.

Chuck began flipping through the first few pages of the report. "Well, makes sense. Says she was on the recruitment track at Columbia. She had a 4.0 GPA. Seems like an excellent student." He continued flipping through her history. "Oh, wait here we go, was kicked out for cheating. Well, I don't know that we have that much to be worried about."

"What now?" Graham was flabbergasted by that last comment.

"I don't think I ever got caught cheating at Yale." Chuck smiled up at his boss. "And if this girl can't even keep some college prof from figuring her out, what chance does she have against me? I'm the best agent you have Graham." He looked back down at the dossier, looking intently at the attached photo. His earlier drunkenness was all gone now. It was mission time. "Sarah Walker, you're in for a world of trouble."

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**West Village  
New York, New York  
September 24, 2007  
10:30 PM EST**

"Sarah Walker, you're in for a world of trouble if you don't get back out here." She felt bad that her brother had gone to all of this trouble for her, but really, it was unnecessary. She hated these parties. A bunch of people she didn't know and had nothing in common with wasn't her idea of an enticing social gathering. If he'd only asked her in advance, she'd have let him know that she would have a miserable time. Now it was getting late and she had to open the store tomorrow. Besides, if she still wanted to sulk over losing Bryce and getting kicked out of Columbia, then that was really her right. She was an adult. Okay, she still lived with her brother and his girlfriend, but so what?

Besides, she had Anna. That's all she needed. She didn't need some romantic relationship. She didn't need some debonair gentleman to come strolling in one day to sweep her off her feet. Okay, it would be nice, but it wasn't something she _needed._ Well, she wasn't going to admit she needed it anyway.

_Speaking of Anna, she'd been awfully quiet_. The small Asian woman turned to her friend. _Whoops, spoke too soon._ "So, Devon still giving you crap about being hung up on the Bryce and Jill betrayal?"

"Ugh," Sarah groaned. "God yes. I mean, Bryce was the love of my life, and I really thought Jill was my friend. Why is it so had to understand that what they did would screw me up a little?"

Anna knew this situation. She'd helped her friend get over the events of Columbia since day one. It felt good to have something she could help Sarah with. Growing up, Sarah had always been the one to bail Anna out. This seemed like one of those times that changing the subject might be the best way to go.

"So what's Jill doing now anyway?"

Sarah rolled her eyes. She appreciated her bestfriend trying to take her mind off the situation, but that had been a pretty weak attempt. "I don't know, I think she's a drug rep."

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**Secret Intersect Facility  
Washington, DC  
September 24, 2007  
10: 40 PM EST**

Jill Roberts, who most certainly was _not_ a drug rep planted the C4 on the side of the Intersect computer. The data had been stored properly on the hand-held computer she carried. _Alright, Jill. Now all you have to do is escape the facility and get this information to Sarah. That should be easy enough. It's not like the NSA has this place surrounded or anything._

The timer on the bomb clicked down to 4…3…2…and Jill began to sprint towards the door to the vault. The explosion ripped the door from its hinges and shot Jill out into the hallway with it. The force of the flying door knocked three agents to the ground and allowed Jill a clean escape at least for the moment.

Peering around a corner, she saw three more NSA goons approaching rapidly. She removed a laser activated mine from the virtual mobile armory she'd stowed in her jacket and set it at the bottom of the wall that the pursuers would have to pass. Moving a safe distance away, Jill waited and listened. Sure enough, seconds later there was a loud explosion and the sound of three bodies hitting the floor.

Regaining her position, Jill was pleased to find that her plan had worked better than anticipated. Not only had she ridded herself of three more assassins, but she'd managed to blow a hole in the wall leading to the outside of the building. Quickly stepping through the new portal, she began to type furiously into the small device that stored the Intersect data. Quickly enough, she found the contact she was looking for. _Alright, now to add an encryption code. What will Sarah get? _Then it dawned on her what she needed to protect the e-mail with. She typed in the first part of a very inside joke and set the opening mechanism to be the punch line.

Everything was ready to go. All Jill had to do now was hit…

A crackle was heard through the night air, and the brunette agent felt a sharp pain pierce her shoulder.

"Don't move," Jill heard a voice say. Footsteps then approached her.

Looking up into the eyes of her would-be killer, Jill used her last ounce of strength to hit the send button on the device. "You're too late Forrest," she choked out before collapsing back onto the cold asphalt.

* * *

**West Village  
New York, New York  
September 25, 2007  
7:01 AM EST**

"Sarah? Sarah, are you alive?" The blonde woman woke up to her bestfriend's face hovering over her own. _But why does her voice sound so distorted?_

"My God Sarah. How much did you drink last night?" _Was it a drunken stupor she'd awoken to? It certainly felt like a hangover. She'd experienced plenty of them in college, and it was exactly this same 'your head's gonna explode' throbbing that she was experiencing now. She didn't remember drinking that much however._

"I don't think I got drunk. Unless…" She cast an accusatory stare at Anna. "Did you spike the punch again?"

"Why is it always my fault? You never fail to blame me for something like this do you?" Anna seemed truly indignant at being held responsible for her friend's condition. But then, she could never lie very well to Sarah. "Yes I did," she admitted.

Sarah moved toward the bathroom. _A long hot shower might wash the crappy feeling away. But more than likely, this headache is here to stay for the time being. It is going to be a really long day, _she mused with annoyance.

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_**A/N: **__Okay, I really just wanted to write this first little part to see how it would go over. I think we all know the story for right now, but what all will change? What I really want to know is, will you guys read this story? Is this something that interests you? Yay? Nay? Give me some feedback and let me know how you feel. I'll continue it if there is enough support for the continuation. Any feedback is appreciated. Thank you very much. You guys are awesome. Peace._


	2. Chapter 2

_**Summary: **__The Sarahverse recreation of the second part of Vs. The Intersect (the pilot). Most things through the end of this chapter will strongly resemble the canon storyline. As we move forward, it should start to diverge._

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own any of the characters or other intellectual property belonging to Chuck. That is owned by people far more important than me._

_**A/N: **__Wow, I mean WOW! The outpouring of reviews and support for the first chapter was mind blowing. You guys make it so much fun to write this stuff. I'm really excited about the possibilities for this story. As I said in the summary, early on, things will be similar to canon (but certain things will change of course…I mean it's different characters). As we move along, you'll start to see a unique spin to this alternate universe. I'm really looking forward to continuing on, and the support and feedback I got for the first chapter is a big reason for that (hint, hint). Also, I could use a couple of people to bounce some ideas off of for this particular piece. In particular, I need someone to help me wade through the junk so that I don't turn this into a 200,000 word piece that goes nowhere all too often. I want to move the story along, but not at the expense of compromising the plot. So you see I'm at a bit of an impasse. Any help would be appreciated. Also a big, big thank you to **TShdow** for the beta work. You were very much helpful, and needed as it were. Any mistakes you see are still my own. Okay, enough carrying on. Please enjoy __**Sarah vs. the Alternate Universe chapter 2.**_

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_**Special A/N: **__Alright any of you chemistry or infectious disease nerds out there. I know that the science of this chapter is ridiculous, but for crisps sakes, I'm writing in a universe where a computer could be put in someone's head, so I just ask you to suspend disbelief for me. Alright? _

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**Cast In Order Of Appearance  
Sarah Walker…………..Yvonne Strahovski  
Morgan Grimes……………..Joshua Gomez  
Jeff Barnes…………………..…Scott Krinsky  
Anna Wu………………………………Julia Ling  
Charles (Chuck) Bartowski….Zachary Levi  
Father………………………………….…Jim Pirri  
Daughter…………………....Tasha Campbell  
Scooter………………………….…Chris Dotson  
Agent Alex Forrest…………….Tricia Helfer**

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**Pharmgreens  
Greenwich Village, New York  
September 25, 2007  
7:30 AM EST**

Some days she hated her job. Okay, she hated her job every day. This wasn't where Sarah Walker was supposed to be at twenty-seven. It was the right field and everything, but she knew she'd been meant to do much more than be the day shift manager and lead pharmaceutical assistant at a Pharmgreens. The assorted losers that worked with her did not help the situation either.

_You know you are one of them now Sarah._ It was an inner-battle she constantly fought. The logical side of her knew that as long as she stayed at this place, she was no better than anyone else here. Well, maybe she was better than Jeff. _I don't think he even gets a paycheck anymore. Going through payroll, it looked like he hadn't gotten one in a few years. Maybe if I told him, he'd leave._ She shook the thought from her head.

While she knew that she was on the same level with at least _most_ of the workers here, there was still some part of Sarah that was the perfect 'Dean's List' student at Columbia. She still had dreams of one day becoming a giant in the pharmaceutical industry. Maybe she could find the cure for some horrible illness. But with every passing day, that seemed more like a pipe dream than a possibility.

_Well, time to get to work. _"Alright team. Some wise ass decided that inventing a new strain of smallpox was a good idea." A collective gasp spread throughout the crowd. "On the bright side, this is a non-lethal variant. That said, it is extremely contagious, and we will be flooded with sick people today. Luckily, the authorities caught the guy behind the plot and using his notes has been able to give us an easy fix for the problem."

Sarah paused, pulling an unmarked bottle from behind the counter. "This is 190 proof grain alcohol. It's illegal to sell this in New York. Fortunately, because of the potential for an outbreak of this new strain of smallpox, all pharmacies have been cleared to issue it to anyone being diagnosed or having the symptoms of the illness."

"What, so they'll still die, but at least they'll feel good about it?" Morgan Grimes was disturbed by this occurrence. What was the boss lady playing at?

"I'm okay with that," Jeff responded in his usual spaced out tone.

Sarah rolled her eyes at the drunk and the bearded man's apparent failure to pay attention to detail. "No, as I said, this is non-lethal. What we have discovered is that the smallpox strain acts as an acid inside of the body. Alcohol is similar to water in that it's very useful as a solvent. The problem with using water is that the body will not process the water in an effective way to rid people of the smallpox."

Anna decided to put her two cents in. "But alcohol spreads throughout the bloodstream just right to remove the smallpox in your body." Sarah nodded along, happy that _someone_ had gotten the point of this little meeting. "It also works to remove your panties," Anna added. The group busted into laughter as Sarah's hands cupped her face. _This crap is not helping this headache._

The morning continued to drag on. Already Sarah had played bartender to three cases of the smallpox outbreak. All three had called in, not an hour after their visit, to let her know that they felt much better. _I wasn't just trying to get you drunk, people._

Sarah was still trying to make sense of everything that was going on this morning. She really didn't remember drinking anything the previous night. Even if it had been some spiked punch, as she'd accused Anna of serving her, she should have felt the affects of the alcohol at some point. Just when did the night end? She remembered hanging out with Anna after ditching the party her brother had thrown. Eventually Anna had left and Sarah had resumed work on her continuation of _Sanditon_. Then…_oh yeah then I got the e-mail from Jill._

The e-mail from Jill had to have something to do with how weird she felt today. When she had opened it, she was prompted for a "Jeopardy" like answer. The question was: "This was seen in _Variety_ in 2003." At first, Sarah had been stumped. Then it came to her as one of the last things she and Jill had done together. They'd participated in the "Save Firefly" campaign together. _God, we were such nerds._ But when she typed in "Save Firefly" it seemed to have accepted the response. Then there had been pictures. There were a lot of pictures that flashed up on the screen. And then…_then I woke up with Anna yelling at me._

Okay, she didn't have it all worked out just yet, but the one thing she was sure of was that Jill had found a way to screw up her life again. Even if it was just a headache, and the residual LSD-like flashback she'd experienced over hearing the delay reports on the radio this morning, it was something. _God I hate Jill. Why does she always ruin my life? _Her inner thoughts were a scream of anguish.

Her inner dialogue was broken by a very enthusiastic Anna Wu. "Oh my God, Sarah. It's Bruce Wayne!"

Sarah looked off to the television at her left. _Mike and Juliet_ was on. "That's not Bryce Wayne," Sarah replied. "That's Hugh Jackman. He plays Wolverine. Christian Bale played Batman. Get your comic book movies correct if you're going to comment on-"

Sarah's tirade was cut off as she noticed the tall, attractive, well dressed man before her. He wore an amused smile as he took in the lecture from the attractive blonde pharmacy assistant. "Your knowledge of the genre is quite impressive…" he feigned looking down at her name tag "Sarah."

"That's right, she's Sarah, I'm Anna," the shorter of the women injected excitedly.

"Really? Are you sisters?" The charming smile the stranger wore had not dissipated an ounce.

"No…we're just friends." Anna sounded confused at the question.

Finally deciding to break up the spectacle before it could become even more of a disaster, Sarah decided to step in despite her embarrassment. "What can I help you with…?" She left the question open ended for the man to give her his name.

"Hi, I'm Charles. But you can call me Chuck," offered the tall, curly haired man as he presented her with a smile like she'd never seen before.

"Chuck huh? I didn't know people still named their children Chuck." Sarah's face turned red again, after her friend's rude comment to the customer.

"Anna, don't you have something to take care of?" She motioned for the other woman to leave.

"No, not at all, in fact-" Anna stopped herself sensing the non-verbal warning being thrown at her through Sarah's icy blue eyes. "You know what, I'm gonna just…" And the shorter woman ran off without further interruption.

"I'm so sorry sir."

"Ah, nothing to be sorry about." He smiled again to try to ease her tension. "And enough with that sir stuff. Please call me Chuck."

"Alright Chuck," Sarah began with a shy smile of her own. "What can I do for you today?"

_This is going to be easier than I thought. She doesn't even know how attractive she is. Maybe it's residual guilt over her snafu at Columbia. Whatever it is, she's completely smitten with me. I'll have that Intersect thing back before lunch at this rate._

"Chuck?" Sarah asked. "You still with me?"

_Dammit Chuck, focus! Finish the mission._ "I'm sorry, long night." He released a nervous laugh to try to hide his wandering thoughts. "I just need this prescription filled."

Sarah looked at the piece of paper she'd been handed. _Good, I can help this guy out._ "You know, we have a generic brand right over there on that shelf. It saves you about $40. In fact, I have some back here with me. You want me to just ring this up?"

"Yes, of course. You're very helpful Sarah. You know, if you're not busy later-" Before Chuck could finish his question, he was interrupted by a frantic customer.

"Miss, please. My daughter fell down outside. Could you get me some Band-Aids or something?"

Sarah looked apologetically at her new acquaintance. He seemed to be trying to figure out just what was going on. Before he could ask her however, Sarah had grabbed a first-aid kit from under the counter and rushed around to the door, through the store and outside to find the little girl on the ground holding her knee. Tears were streaming down the face of the child.

The pharmaceutical assistant knelt down beside the injured girl. "Sweetie, can I have a look at it please?" The child looked up into the reassuring face that had spoken. Biting back her tears, the girl moved her hand away so that Sarah could examine her scraped knee.

"Well, that's a nasty scrape you've got there kid. You did a real number on yourself. Let me see if I can't fix it up some. This is going to sting for a moment okay?" The little girl nodded timidly as Sarah began to clean the cuts on the child's knee. It really hurt the blonde woman to see the pain the cleaning was causing the little girl.

"This should soothe it some, and it will prevent infection, okay?" Sarah's soothing tone was still projecting in her voice. Again the child responded with a nod. After applying the Complex Polymyxin B Ointment (she'd long believed the Chinese version of the triple antibiotic ointment to be superior to its American counterpart), she put two _Sponge Bob_ adhesive bandages over the wound. Sarah then smiled at the little girl.

"Thank you so much ma'am. You went way above and beyond and we appreciate it very much." The father of the little girl looked genuinely grateful.

"It's really no problem. We're here to help, right?" Sarah turned to re-enter the store and saw Chuck still at her counter, smiling at her. _I must have been pretty impressive, _she thought proudly.

Before she could make her way back over to her waiting customer however, her progress was impeded by her arch nemesis. Scooter was a pain in the ass on his best days, most days he was more of a hindrance than that. This was one of those normal days.

"So, you wasted more of Pharmgreens' time Walker?" She rolled her eyes. "Don't you roll your eyes at me," he demanded.

"Scooter, I was helping a customer. Maybe you should try doing that instead of trying to keep tabs on your fellow employees." Sarah then walked away from the pissy little man. He'd really been on her case since she had been promoted to the day shift manager position ahead of him. If she didn't hate this job so much, she'd probably make a note to watch her back while he was around.

When she finally escaped the face off with the evil Scooter, Sarah was disappointed to find that her potential gentleman caller had disappeared. _Damn, I really liked him. _

"Hey Sarah!" The blonde's head snapped up to address her bestfriend. "He left you a note," Anna finished.

Sarah walked briskly to where the shorter woman stood, while trying not to look too anxious. _You're doing a poor job of that Walker._ She snatched the small slip of paper from Anna and began to read it intently.

_Sorry I had to leave so soon.  
Had an appointment to get to.  
Call me, 323-555-0222  
-Chuck_

Sarah smiled and clutched the note tightly in her hand. She knew there had been some kind of connection. Quickly she stuffed the note in her pocket. _Oh, I will most certainly call you Chuck._

Other than two other freaked out customers who'd contracted the Smallpox variant, the rest of the morning went rather smoothly. Now Sarah sat in the break room enjoying the left over eggplant parmesan from dinner the nigh before. She had to give it to her brother's girlfriend; the chick could cook like no one's business. She'd brought enough so that Anna could have some, because Anna _would_ have taken some regardless. This way the sharing wasn't at the expense of Sarah's hunger.

The good food had led to a comfortably quiet lunch. For once, it was Sarah who broke the silence. "Do you think it's too early to call him?"

"Yes," Anna replied flatly.

"I don't know. This is a special situation. We were having a nice conversation, and then he had to leave. This is really just me continuing the conversation."

"It's too soon. You'll seem desperate." Anna was mostly listening, but the eggplant was _so_ good.

"I am desperate! Anna, I haven't been on a date in almost five years. There are a lot of things I haven't done in five years." A wistful expression overtook Sarah's face.

"And if you make that call right now, you won't be doing any of those things with that guy." Sarah considered her friend's words.

"I guess you're right," she said in a defeated tone. "I'll be right back." Sarah stood from the table tried to discreetly dial the number from the note. Apparently she wasn't discreet enough, as Anna saw exactly what her friend was doing.

"Sarah, no! Don't you dare!" The smaller woman ran over to her friend and tried to get the phone from her. The efforts were in vain as the height of the blonde allowed her to keep Anna at bay. Then there was one ring…two rings…three rings…

"Hello?"

"Hi Chuck. It's Sarah…from earlier. From the Pharmgreens?" Shy Sarah was doing her best to come through. She would have to fight it back. Shy could be charming in person, but it was utterly useless over the phone.

"Of course, how could I forget _you_? Listen I'm sorry I had to run. I had a meeting with a realtor. I'm kind of new to the area so…you know; I could really use someone to show me around. If you're free?" _Is he asking me out? Oh my God! What do I do? Well I should start by saying something._

"If I'm free," she repeated mindlessly. Unfortunately, Anna was listening intently.

"Oh, she's free. She's got nothing planned," the other woman yelled from the background. Sarah blushed at her friend's shouting out of her availability.

"I guess my schedule's open," she said shyly.

"Great! Seven sound good?"

"Yeah…seven sounds…awesome."

* * *

**Central Park  
New York, New York  
September 26, 2007  
6:30 AM EST**

Okay, the night hadn't gone exactly like she'd wanted. Everything had started off so great too. He'd picked her up at exactly seven. They'd enjoyed a nice dinner at a small Italian restaurant near her apartment. Then they went for drinks at a nice quiet lounge nearby. Chuck had been so charming. She never felt comfortable enough to just open up like that, but somehow he'd put her at ease and made it alright to talk. It had been the perfect date. _But he was probably trained to be the perfect date._ Sarah sighed.

All of a sudden there had been commotion all around them. Chuck had grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the lounge and began leading her down the street. It was then that he'd dropped the bombshell. He was a CIA agent, and had been partners with Jill. _Had been. _Despite everything Jill had put her through, to find out she was dead had come as quite a shock. It was hard to hate her as much now. Well, it wasn't that hard.

Chuck had led her to a rooftop while screaming into his phone for 'emergency extraction.' They were accosted by a very attractive, but very dangerous looking woman that Sarah would learn was Agent Alex Forrest of the NSA. Chuck had pulled a gun on Sarah to protect her, although Sarah was still trying to figure out how that worked. Then the biggest bombshell of all was dropped. The e-mail she'd received from Jill had been full of government secrets. After viewing the pictures from the e-mail, Sarah now somehow _knew_ all of the secrets.

After convincing the spies _not_ to kill her, it had been an average night of preventing a _real_ Smallpox outbreak at a United Nations function by using her new found secret government knowledge and her experience with dissolving the disease with alcohol from work. Then there had been an argument about what they were going to do with her. Sarah had found this part extremely troubling.

She didn't know what gave them the right to do _anything_ with her. She hadn't stolen the secrets. This thing had been thrust upon her and on top of that, the stupid e-mail had been laced with some kind of computer eating virus that destroyed her iMac Desktop. Making $12 an hour wasn't going to make replacing it easy. Luckily she'd stored most of her writing on a thumb drive, but the situation was still inconvenient.

So at 6:30 in the morning, here she sat at a park bench in her favorite part of the park. It was always quiet this time of morning, except for the occasional jogger passing by. This spot was where she'd come to think on many occasions. It was where she'd decided to go to Columbia instead of Stanford or Duke (a decision she wished she could make again by the way). It was where she came after Jill had gotten her kicked out of Columbia for whatever reason. This is where she'd come after Bryce had told her that he'd left her and was seeing Jill now. It was strange how everything wrong in her life seemed to go back to Jill.

Now Jill had done it to her again. Sarah had a ton of government secrets in her head, and she didn't know what she was supposed to do. This was the CIA and NSA she was dealing with and there was probably no way she could run from them. To top it off, she should have figured that a guy like Chuck wouldn't have just come on to her out of the blue like that. It was all just pretend; it was all a lie and she hated lies.

She felt a presence approaching her from behind and tensed, reaching for the pepper spray she kept in her purse.

"It's really not safe to be out here by yourself in such an empty area." That voice was Chuck's. She relaxed slightly.

"I've been coming here long before you arrived." Sarah couldn't keep the bitterness from her voice. "How long have you been here?" She tried to sound a little more civil.

"All night," he replied as he took a seat beside her. Sarah had grown quiet again, seemingly lost in her thoughts.

"What's up Sarah? Talk to me." _Dammit, why does he have to be so charming and easy to talk to? I can't even hate him like I should._

"I just…I don't know why Jill would do this to me. After everything…" She realized she didn't need to spill everything about Jill to him just yet. "I just can't figure out why she chose me."

"Sarah, I don't know why she did this. But you're going to be alright." His voice was the picture of reassuring. Sarah still wouldn't meet his gaze.

"So what happens now?" They'd talked the previous night about a bunker. Forrest seemed to be in favor of it.

"For now, you continue to live your life Sarah. We'll protect you…I'll protect you. And you'll help us out."

"What about my family…my friends? What do I tell them?"

"You don't tell them anything…for their protection. No one is going to hurt you Sarah…I won't let them. And I won't let them hurt your family." The silence grew between the pair once again. "I just need one promise from you," he said finally.

"What's that?" Before he could answer, he turned her shoulder, forcing her to look into his eyes. _His warm, beautiful, soulful brown eyes, _she thought irrelevantly.

"Trust me, Sarah." Then he smiled that beautiful smile that she'd fallen at the mercy of since she'd met him. Despite everything else, she knew she couldn't deny _that_ smile. She smiled back at him and playfully pushed his shoulder away. In response, he pulled her into a single arm hug.

_Well, maybe if I get to spend time with Chuck, this won't be the worst experience of my life._

_

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_**A/N: **__Alright, for right now, we haven't really ventured outside of the box much. Oh but we will. In the next chapter, we get to see another familiar face in an unfamiliar spot. What does that mean? Guess you'll just have to read __**chapter 3 of Sarah vs. the Alternate Universe.**_

_Thank you again to **Tshdow **for the beta work. It really helps make these things run smoother. Thank you guys so much again for all the support you've shown thus far. I hope you enjoyed chapter 2, and I hope you'll continue to support me through this journey. Any and all feedback is very welcome. Thanks again. You guys are awesome. Peace._


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: **__Sorry for the delay. Apparently nicotine withdraw is not so good for creativity. One the bright side, I'm 6 days without any cold turkey…so that's nice. Also, I have to leave town for my Dad's birthday, so I didn't get anyone else to look at this. Any mistakes are my own. Anyway, hope you enjoy._

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Chuck. I so wish that I did…but when I was a kid, I wished to be a professional athlete, and that didn't work either. I'm starting to think that wishing is useless. _

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**Cast in order of appearance**

**Sarah Walker………....Yvonne Strahovski  
Chuck Bartowski……………...Zachary Levi  
Alex Forrest…………………….Tricia Helfer  
Director Langston Graham……Tony Todd**

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**West Village, New York  
September 30, 2007**

One week ago today everything was normal. She had still been 26 and she didn't have a government super-computer lodged in her brain. Of course one week ago today, Sarah had never met Chuck Bartowski. If the past five days were to be any indication of things to come, his presence in her life was to be a blessing and a curse.

When he'd asked her out, she'd felt a surge of confidence and self worth that she hadn't felt since Bryce had left her for Jill. When he'd knocked on her door to pick her up for her date, looking stylish and gorgeous, it had only swelled that feeling inside of her. It didn't hurt that her overly excited girlfriend in-law had helped her pick out an outfit for the evening and the look on Chuck's face upon arrival seemed to glow with approval.

Anna had always told her that she was a good outfit or two away from being a knockout. Of course Anna's exact words had been "You're a revealing wardrobe away from having to install a turn-sty outside your bedroom." None the less, she knew it was Anna's way of complimenting her. But Sarah had always chalked that up to the other woman just being a good friend.

But that date had seemed to tell a different story. Her company for the evening was clearly taken by her appearance. He'd even seemed interested in _her_. Even Bryce had never seemed that interested in what she thought when they were dating. He'd feign interest of course, but Sarah knew he was just waiting for her to shut up so he could get into her pants.

But Chuck had been different. He was really drawn into everything she had to talk about. He was fascinated by her life, and instinctually seemed to know what questions to ask to get her to open up more and share more of herself with him. Sarah was far too much of a cynic to believe in 'love at first sight,' but she was almost positive that there had been a connection between Chuck and herself.

Then all those hopes for what might be had come crashing down with the revelation of who Chuck really was. He hadn't been interested in her at all. He'd just been there to do a job for the stupid CIA. He knew Jill. Hell, he had been Jill's partner. And once again Jill had found a way to screw Sarah's life up. She'd somehow directed this great guy into her life only to tease her with what she couldn't have.

But then, there'd been the four days that had followed that disastrous first date. She'd gotten to spend more time with Chuck, and against her better judgment had started to feel as if there was a bond growing between him and her. Her more rationale side screamed at her to not get her hopes up. Chuck had made it clear that whatever existed between them was "just for cover." _But even the biggest lies are spun upon a molecule of truth aren't they?_

He was after all picking her up for their second date any minute now. Sarah studied herself in the mirror for what must have been the hundredth time since Ellie had helped her get ready. Both her brother and his girlfriend were extremely excited about Sarah finally "finding someone." It hurt her to her core that it was all a lie.

She had to admit, she looked a lot better than normal when she was dressed up. Ellie really knew how to make her look good. _Of course, it's not hard to improve on dark slacks, conservative blouses, horn-rimmed glasses and a lab coat. _

Not wanting her spy protector to be bombarded with attention and intrusive questions from her family just yet, Sarah had agreed to meet him curbside.

_Where is he? He should have been here-_

"You ready to go?" Sarah jumped at the sound of his voice.

"Why would you sneak up on me like that?" Her words were panicked as she struggled to regain her breath from the surprise.

"Sorry," he chuckled. "Occupational hazard." He grinned what Sarah was coming to know as his trademark grin and extended his arm to her. She took one more deep breathe; this one more to steady herself for the closeness of the guy she was crushing on than anything else. Finally she took his arm and the two began to make their way to…

"Our date is at a library? I know these places are a little empty…especially on Sunday nights, but really? The only real reason to come to a library on a date…" she paused remembering a little habit some people in college had developed in the under frequented stacks of books. "I'm _not_ doing that…yet. What kind of girl do you think I am Chuck?" Her face was a hard picture of indignation.

Chuck only laughed at her outrage. Once they had entered the building, he turned to her. "I think you're the kind of girl that would like to get those secrets out of your head."

"And they have some kind of magical device that does that at a _library_?" Sarah couldn't keep the bitterness from dripping from her speech.

"No, Sarah." Chuck still hadn't lost his smile. "We needed a safe place to meet a contact. We have someone coming to see you that we think _may_ be able to…help you out. He worked on the initial Intersect project, and he's one of the CIA's top scientists."

"So when do I get to meet my new hero?" She looked around the seemingly empty building.

"Well, I think you met him about five days ago." His winning smile made it hard for Sarah to keep a straight face. Somehow she managed to do so anyway. "You don't get to meet him. It's important that he doesn't see you. We can't let anyone know that you're the Intersect." His tone had gone from teasing to very serious and the smile had left his face to be replaced by a hard edged stare.

"Oh," Sarah nodded in understanding. Just then, the doors to the library swung open. Still frightened by Chuck's spiel about protecting her identity, Sarah dove behind the counter at the front desk.

"Relax Walker. It's me. No need to act like a spaz; or remind us that you _are_ a spaz." It was just Agent Forrest. Standing up, Sarah began to brush herself off from her ridiculous escape attempt.

"Forrest, would you please leave her alone. She's under a lot of stress." Alex rolled her eyes at the overprotective words from Chuck.

"I'm sure between her dead-end job and self pity, she's absolutely swamped, but we have things to take care of." The female agent continued to walk through the library to a projection unit that was set up in the building's center.

Chuck sighed and motioned for Sarah to join him. "She's right, we need to get ready. Dr. Busgang will be here soon."

* * *

**20 minutes later**

"So you you'll be safely behind these curtains, and all you have to do is let us know when you flash on anything." Chuck began to draw the curtains closed to leave Sarah to her tests.

"You really know how to show a lady a romantic evening Agent Bartowski." He gave her a look of mock offense before smiling at her one last time.

"You'll do fine Sarah." And with that, he closed the curtains to the make shift screening room and went to join Agent Forrest and Dr. Busgang at the projector.

Two hours and after a stream of constant "flashes" (as she'd heard this rapid imaging that ran through her head called) Sarah had become convinced that flashing was the single least enjoyable thing a human being could do. If the time she'd had mono was a pain, and the removal of her wisdom teeth and the subsequent treatment when the sockets became abscessed had been even worse, then subliminal recalling of visual triggers was down right inhumane. It felt as though her head was trying to grow another head. _At least it's over and they can take this thing out._

After the doctor was excused from the building, Chuck and Sarah began their walk back to her apartment. The trip was made in silence, which suited the blonde just fine. She was not normally a talker anyway, and the devastating headache that the tests had left her with wasn't going to let her act too uncharacteristically.

When they finally arrived at the front stoop to her building, Sarah moved to stand in front of Chuck. "So, did I do alright?"

"You did great Sarah," he said as to reassure her.

"So the doctor thinks he can get this computer out of my head then." She tried not to get her hopes up, but it was hard given the situation.

"He thinks so. There is no guarantee, but it looks good."

"So…I guess if they get the Intersect out I guess that _this,_" she motioned between the two of them to imply what she meant by '_this_' "is over." Sarah really didn't want the disappointment that the thought caused to creep into her voice, but she feared she'd failed.

"Yep," was his simple answer. Truthfully, Chuck was bummed about leaving. Sarah seemed like a really great girl. She was way more than she realized, but her humbleness only added to her charm. In another life, he could totally see himself with someone like her. But he convinced himself that he had a job to do, and his emotions were really too raw right now for such thoughts anyway. After all, Jill hadn't been gone a week yet.

"Right…" At this point, the letdown Sarah felt was clear. She decided to try to end the night on a positive note however. "So, I just wanted to thank you…for, you know. It's been a while since I had such a successful second date…or a second date at all really," she said with a wistful tone overtaking her voice at the last.

Chuck could sense that she was battling herself with how she should part from him. Deciding that he should give her a hand, he leaned down and gave her a soft chaste kiss on her lips. Sarah couldn't stave off the surprise at his actions. "For the cover. We have to sell it," he explained. The smile he gave her let her know that it wasn't _all_ about the cover however.

"Right…for the cover," she said almost in a whisper.

Sarah made her way up to the apartment feeling almost as though she were floating on air. The night had certainly been a mixed bag. She'd been thrilled to have a second date with Chuck. Then, she'd been disappointed to find out that it was just a setup to get someone to test her new abilities. After that, the headache that she'd endured had been excruciating. But as bad as the headache had been, that kiss…_Chuck's kiss_…had seemed to make it go away instantly.

Then there was the possibility of getting this curse lifted from her brain. That in many ways was the most appealing part of the night. But then she thought about the ramifications of _not_ being the Intersect anymore. No more Intersect would mean no more Chuck. Chuck, the only guy who'd taken any real interest in her since college would be gone and she'd be back to her pathetic, lonely existence at the Pharmgreens. Sarah was resigned to the fact that no matter what, she would be hurt by the outcome of this little experiment.

* * *

**Chuck's Hotel Room  
New York, New York**

This wasn't good. He shouldn't be thinking of her like this. She was an asset to be protected and nothing more. But how could he not see that she was a beautiful, sweet, and genuinely good person. She was the type of girl that Chuck could easily fall… _You stop it right now Agent Bartowski. This is not how you were trained to act. This is just residual emotions from Jill. _That excuse was beginning to ring more and more hollow every day.

Deciding that sleep wasn't going to come so easily tonight, Chuck decided he would at least get a few reports finished. The Intersect project required that he give a detailed daily report on a rotating basis with Agent Forrest. _What are you going to say about that "cover kiss" in your report Bartowski? Maybe you should file it under the ever growing list of reasons you are on your way to being compromised. _He shook the thought from his conscience. _It was just for cover. I was just doing my job. _He didn't think he would believe himself no matter how many times he said.

With his nagging agent instincts giving him hell, Chuck knew he wasn't going to get that report done tonight. Luckily Forrest filed a report even on her off days, so one day of no report wasn't going to be too noticeable. He knew he had to find some outlet for his nervous energy however. _Well Charles, you're in the city that doesn't sleep, so go drink yourself numb. You'll feel better in a few hours._

Chuck was well aware that he was on the road to major alcohol problems. Even with his horrible childhood he hadn't been a big drinker until he met Jill. That woman had been so infuriating at times that it was impossible _not_ to want to drown his sorrows in something that could clean his mind of her for even a moment. And even in death she had done it to him again. She'd indirectly sent him right into the arms of everything he'd always known he needed and wanted in a woman at a time that he couldn't have her.

Before Chuck knew what had happened, he found himself re-dressed and walking down the street toward a small corner pub. _Well, looks like I am getting drunk tonight. _He felt grateful that Forrest handled surveillance on the asset overnight. _That's right…just an asset. She is not Sarah. _His self scolding didn't seem to be working. His traitorous lips still felt the near electric shock that had passed from Sarah's mouth even now. _Get it under control Bartowski._

Before Chuck could enter the pub, however, his phone began to vibrate.

"Bartowski, secure."

"Bartowski," it was Director Graham. "Dr. Busgang has been abducted."

"What? How? And how do we know that already?" Something about this seemed really wrong to Chuck.

"A…source that was tracking a domestic terror group witnessed the abduction. He tipped us off." Graham never seemed to get emotional. The man was a stone wall even in times of crisis.

"What are we supposed to do sir?"

"We'll go into detail at tomorrow morning's briefing. For now, ask the Intersect what she can tell you about Fulcrum." Graham hung up his end of the call, leaving Chuck holding a silent phone.

He pulled up his newest contact number one and made his call to Sarah…_the asset_ he reminded himself.

"ugh…'lo," she answered clearly just waking up.

"Sarah-"

"Chuck?" her voice immediately brightened.

"Yeah, um, Sarah…we have a bit of a situation."

"Why? What happened? What's wrong?" The panic found its way into her voice rather easily.

"Nothing you need to worry about…tonight. We'll talk about it in the morning."

"Well why did you call me now?" After that kiss earlier, she had trouble keeping the less than wholesome desires she possessed toward her CIA handler suppressed.

"Just a quick thing…what can you tell me about Fulcrum?"

Sarah felt that dizzying, nauseous feeling that was becoming all too familiar as her eyes rolled back into her head.

_A rooster standing atop a dead tiger  
A crowded sidewalk  
CIA documents detailing the formation of a rogue internal cabal  
Listed known activities including a connection to a 'Project Omaha'  
The bold word __**FULCRUM  
**__A crowded sidewalk_

"Dammit, will you warn me when you're going to do that. It doesn't feel great."

"Sorry," he said without emotion. "Well, what did you see?"

"Well, they're some kind of group within the CIA and they were involved with a 'Project Omaha.' Does that mean anything to you?" Chuck nearly dropped his phone. If this was a group involved with Omaha, then they certainly had interest in the Intersect.

"I can't believe they found us this quickly," he said in less than a whisper.

"What?" Sarah asked.

"Nothing…nothing, it's fine. Look, I'll tell you more tomorrow. Get a good night's sleep. Something tells me you're in for a long day tomorrow."

"Oh joy. Well….good night Chuck." Despite the news that tomorrow would more than likely be difficult, she couldn't help but part pleasantly with the man of whose kiss she still felt the residual effects.

"Good night Sarah." Chuck sighed and put his phone away. _I really hope they don't do what they're most likely thinking of doing to you Sarah, _he added to himself.

If Fulcrum had already found them…found _her_ then there was little doubt that she would be extracted to a secure location. The thought of such an innocent, sweet woman receiving basically a life sentence for doing nothing wrong rubbed Chuck the wrong way. He'd certainly been hardened by his years of experience in the field, but he certainly was not completely immune to the human condition. He'd long figured out that Sarah depended on her support system to help function. Without them, she wouldn't be the same person. _She wouldn't be the person you said you liked._

Chuck really had to find a way to get his conscience to stop giving him hell about that. _Okay, she said "I like you Chuck." What was I supposed to say? Should I have thanked her? No, I said "I like you too." It was a completely normal thing to say. I had to maintain my cover. _It wasn't lost on Chuck however that his admission had absolutely nothing to do with his cover and everything to do with the kind of nerdy, but still stunningly beautiful, and extremely sweet girl he was speaking to at the time.

Heaving one last deep sigh, Chuck let himself back into his hotel room. He had all designs on taking a long hot shower to ease the tension of tonight and the last five days. Something seemed out of place however. _Ah, there it is. _Chuck had left a small ink blot on the handle of the door. Realizing that the ink had been smudged and that Chuck himself had no ink on his hand, it let him know that someone had been in his room. _Or maybe someone is still in your room._

Glancing around quickly, he caught sight of a stranger turned facing away from him and pouring a drink at the mini-bar. "Of course you'll drink with me. What will it be Agent Bartowski?" the intruder asked in a stated British accent. It was an all too familiar British accent.

"Cole Barker…what are you doing here?" Chuck's defenses were up immediately. The two men had worked together on a number of assignments, but given the recent happenings, it seemed wise to be careful.

"Always work with you, isn't it Bartowski? Well, I suppose you're looking for a scientist." Cole had turned to face the other agent at this point.

"And just how would you know that?" As Chuck asked the question, his hand began to stray to the waistband of his pants toward his Colt 1911.

"No guns will be necessary Charles. I was the one who witnessed him being grabbed. So, you want a scientist and I want an international terrorist network that happens to have custody of said scientist. My superiors –and your own, I might add- felt it would be fortuitous of us to work together."

"Is that right?" Chuck raised a suspicious eyebrow.

"I'm afraid it is." At the end of the day, Chuck trusted Cole as much if not more than he did any other spy. Agent Barker had never been anything but the consummate professional and a very straight up kind of guy for this line of work.

"And so it is. Barker and Bartowski strike again." Chuck smiled at the other man to try to make up for his previous suspicions.

"Fulcrum won't know what hit them," Cole added. The two men then shared a laugh as Cole raised his freshly poured Scotch in salute to his once again brother in arms.

Even through the camaraderie of the moment however, Chuck knew he'd have to be on extra guard for his asset. It wasn't safe to have another spy around the Intersect. _Especially if she's dressed like she was tonight, _Chuck thought. _Wait, was that blossoming jealousy? Watch yourself Chuck._

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**With: Jonathan Cake as Cole Barker.**

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_**A/N: **__I originally had designs for this to be a much longer chapter, but in the end, I decided it would be too much to put out everything I wanted to put out (that and the nicotine deprived writer's block I'm suffering from put me far enough behind that I just really wanted to get this out). Anyway, thank you so much for reading, and I look forward to your feedback (please?). You guys are awesome. Peace._


	4. Chapter 4

**_Disclaimer: _**_I don't own Chuck. I'm not making any money from this. Of course, I don't really make any money at my job either, so I fail to see how that absolves me from anything, but it seems like I should say it anyway. So there it is._

_**A/N: **Alright, time for Sarah's first mission. This chapter is almost all mission stuff. I'm saving the more emotional and relationshippy side of things for the next chapter. Thank you to all the fabulous reviewers from chapter 3. You guys make it a lot of fun to write. Anyway, here's chapter 4 of **Sarah vs. The Alternate Universe.** Please enjoy, and I look forward to your feedback._

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**Cast in order of appearance**

Sarah Walker- Yvonne Strahovski

Devon Walker- Ryan McPartlin

Ellie Carmichael- Sarah Lancaster

Cole Barker- Jonathan Cake

Alex Forrest- Tricia Helfer

Chuck Bartowski- Zachary Levi

Director Langston Graham- Tony Todd

General John Casey- Adam Baldwin

Tommy Delgado- Anthony Ruivivar

Dr. Busgang- Robert Picardo

* * *

**West Village  
New York, New York  
October 1, 2007**

Sleep hadn't come easily for Sarah the previous night. She had been so wound up over the kiss outside her apartment. She'd tried to convince herself that it wasn't that big of a deal. She'd kissed plenty of guys before. Hell, she'd kissed a couple of girls before. But something about the way her lips felt against his was… She didn't know exactly how to describe it. And when she'd finally gotten to a point that she _could_ sleep, he'd called and woken her up. It was as if Chuck Bartowski had some sick plan to make sure she stayed up all night.

So it was of no surprise to her that she was running late this morning. Shoving her phone into her purse, she walked as fast as seemingly possible towards the door. Of course her brother wouldn't let her get away that easy.

"Whoa there little sis. Aren't you going to get some breakfast?" Devon looked up at his panicking sibling.

"Sorry, no time. Running late. Love you Devon," she said kissing Ellie on the cheek. "Later Ell," she added giving Devon a pat on the shoulder as she rushed out of the door.

"So, does she seem a little strange this morning?" Devon asked through a thoughtful, worried expression.

"Sweetie, she's just all hung up on this new guy. It's sweet." Ellie got up from the table and gave her boyfriend a reassuring kiss on the cheek as she cleared her dishes.

Out in the hall, Sarah was making her way down to the apartment that Agent Forrest had occupied to "keep an eye on the asset" as she had called her creepy stalking. It hadn't taken very long for the novelty of in essence living in the _Truman _Show to wear out for Sarah. They even had Forrest working at the Pharmgreens with her. As it had turned out, a cold blooded assassin who was disgusted by sick people wasn't the ideal candidate to fill the role of a cashier at a pharmacy.

Before she reached the agent's door however, she was passed in the hall by a very well dressed, nice looking, tall…

_A dancing bear  
A file photo of the man  
Multiple SIS mission reports  
Decorations for one Cole Barker  
A dancing bear_

"I'm not even safe in my home now?" she asked quietly to herself as she hurried the rest of the way to her handler's quarters.

"Hey, there's a M:I6 agent out in the hall. Is that type of thing going to become the norm around here, because if it is…" Sarah said as she came bursting through the door. She spotted Forrest and Chuck standing in front of the female agent's television; there were two very important looking people there. "Who are they?" she asked to anyone that would answer.

"We're in the middle of a briefing here Walker, do you mind?" Alex said angrily.

"She can stay," Director Graham said.

"Fine," Forrest spat. "Walker, these are the superiors. Director Graham, CIA and General Casey, who's my boss."

"Nice to meet you," Sarah said nervously. She was unsure exactly how she should react to this situation. The general grunted in response to her greeting. Graham seemed to ignore her.

"As we were saying," Graham said, finally speaking up. "You three are to assist Agent Barker in his attempt to locate this rogue cell. Dr. Busgang should be there, and then we can retrieve our secrets from you head, Sarah, and you can go back to doing… Whatever it is that you do." Casey grunted in approval of Graham's slight of the asset.

"If you don't have anything else to add?" The CIA director took in the agents' lack of a response. The screen then went black.

"Well, Walker, I guess you have a mission. I wonder how you'll screw this up." Forrest walked off from the pair.

Chuck noticed that Sarah seemed to be more than a bit nervous. "Don't worry," he said, bringing her attention to him. "You'll do fine. Remember, I said I wouldn't let anyone hurt you. You still trust me right?" She nodded in response. "Good," he said giving her arm a squeeze. "Now, I think you have to get to work…and so do I."

"I thought you were at work." She looked at Chuck with a confused expression on her face.

"I have to get a regular job too…for cover. I will start today at…" he trailed off, looking through the dossier he held in his hand. "I'll be working at _Kim's Video & Music_."

"The gay porn store?" Sarah's voice sounded surprised, but amused.

"I'm sorry, the what?"

"Yeah, the West Village location specializes in the homosexual lifestyle. Huh, I guess I should have known that such a cute guy was-"

"I'm not! I didn't know that!" He paused; thinking about what his outrage might be perceived as. "Not that there's anything wrong with that culture, it's just, you know, I'm not familiar with… See the thing is-"

Sarah pressed a finger to his lips to stop his babbling. "Shhh. I believe you," she said, laughing softly. He let out a sigh of relief. He wasn't sure exactly why he cared so much what she thought of him.

They both seemed to realize just how close they were at the same moment. Sarah quickly withdrew her finger from his mouth as if his lips were made of fire. She tried to continue as if nothing had happened. "So you're not…I guess that means that you and Jill were…you know."

He tried hard not to show panic in response to her query. From being around Sarah long enough now, he knew that her past with Jill was a sore spot for the blonde. He decided a lie in this case would go a long way towards cementing her trust in him. "No...We were just partners."

"Oh?" she asked.

"Yeah, there was nothing personal between us." Another lie.

Agent Barker was still waiting patiently as the team made their way out into the hall. He smiled as the threesome approached him. "So, Chuck. Tell me about your team here."

"My team," Forrest interrupted. "You know Agent Bartowski and me. This," she continued, motioning towards Sarah "is our analyst, Walk…err…Sarah."

Something about this third member of the team seemed a bit off to the veteran British spy. He decided to press for more information. "An analyst? You must be incredible at your job to be assigned with agents the level of Forrest here and Chuck."

"Yeah, she's really good at her job. Very smart, you know," Chuck added with a nervous laugh. This telling laughter was a bad habit that he'd been unable to break in his decade of service to the CIA. He'd been able to keep the nervous tick to a minimum, but it was still there. Although most people wouldn't have picked up on it, Cole Barker wasn't most people. A direct approach to Chuck's slip wasn't going to help him learn more about the situation however.

"Smart and beautiful, I've taught you well, Charles." Cole extended his hand to Sarah. She reciprocated the gesture, but instead of a handshake, she was treated to a kiss of her hand. She blushed at the action. For a girl that had felt like a failure and an ugly duckling for the past five years, having such a handsome and debonair man like this Cole Barker fawning over her was almost too much. Her focus on the M:I6 agent was broken by the sound of Chuck clearing his throat.

"If you don't mind, _Cole_, Sarah and I have a cover to maintain. We're supposed to be boyfriend and girlfriend. It would be great if said cover was not blown by your Don Juan act." Cole picked up on something else from his old acquaintance. Was it jealousy? He decided that now would be a great time to push for just a little more.

"Cover?" he asked as Agent Forrest and Sarah had gained a comfortable distance between the two men. "Is it just a cover? Come on Charles. You're buttering that muffin. You know you can be honest with me. I don't blame you at all. In fact-"

"It's a cover Cole," Chuck seethed. Sensing the tension that was crackling between them, Cole made a move to back down.

"Right. Look, I didn't mean anything by it Charles. I was out of line." He paused for a moment. "And I was sorry to hear about Jill." Chuck stopped walking and cast his eyes downward.

"Yeah," he said softly. "Four years we were… It's hard, you know?" Cole nodded in acknowledgment. Death was always a possibility in this game. Working with Chuck before, however, he knew that the curly haired man was much more human with his emotions than most spies. Emotions were generally viewed as a weakness to people like them, but Chuck had found a way to make it work for him. Cole wasn't going to do anything to ridicule that.

* * *

**Greenwich Village, New York  
That Evening**

"So what is this place?" Sarah asked while they made their way into what the sign outside said was a computer repair store.

"Well, thanks to your heads up, I was able to avoid working at that video store, and the CIA bought out this place. I'll work here, and we'll have a center of operations. Plus, since it's not a real business, I can close it if the need arises to do anything in the middle of the day." Chuck led her to the back of the store as he gave the explanation.

As they entered the 'Employees Only' room, Sarah was greeted with an array of computers and a large LED monitor that showed the emblem of the NSA. Agent Forrest and Cole were already waiting for the pair on the couch in front of the monitor.

"What the hell took you two so long? We were supposed to meet fifteen minutes ago!" Forrest was obviously perturbed by the other two members of 'Team Walker' being tardy.

"I was getting introduced to the ass…umm…Sarah's family, Alex. We have a cover to maintain remember?" He couldn't believe he almost revealed her asset status in front of Barker. He only hoped the more experienced man hadn't picked up on his near foible.

Luckily for Chuck, Cole had been far too focused on the Sarah Walker that was far different from the nerdy looking girl he'd met this morning. Now dressed for their mission, her unflattering attire and old lady glasses had been replaced by a stunning evening gown and a pair of startling blue eyes that had been hidden behind her regular eyewear. Sarah felt flushed under the scrutiny of his stare. Finally, Forrest spoke up to relieve the tension.

"Well, we have our orders. Since you two didn't feel the need to show up for the briefing, I'll fill you in. You," she said pointing at Chuck and Sarah "will be attending this gallery tonight as a couple. Agent Barker and I will be there as wait staff. If you…" Alex had to stop herself from saying flash "_see_ anything, you let Chuck know, and we'll take care of it. You stay out of the way. Got it?"

Sarah nodded. "So basically, I go in, take a look around, and then do nothing?"

"Yep," Forrest answered shortly.

"I think I can handle that," Sarah replied.

* * *

**Chelsea, New York  
Art Gallery  
Later that evening**

She'd done everything they'd told her to do. She'd gone in with Chuck, flashed on a guy named Tommy, and gotten out of the way. How was it then that now she was now all alone and the three spies that she'd come in with were being held captive? That was something she'd have to figure out later. For now, she just knew that her team was in trouble. Without her team, Sarah knew that meant that _she_ was in trouble. The government didn't send two highly skilled agents to protect you if they thought you could manage on your own.

So it was that Sarah found herself trying her best to walk stealthily through the halls of the building she'd seen her handlers and Agent Barker led into. Sarah wished at that moment that she had a gun with her. _Hell, while I'm wishing, I also would like to wish that I knew how to operate that gun._

But there was no firearm to keep her safe from…whatever it was that was putting her in danger. As she checked every room along the corridor, she began to feel panic wash over her. She feared that this Fulcrum group had taken her team and left the building and she'd never find them. She also feared that she _would_ find them, because she honestly didn't know what she would do to improve the situation.

Finally, she came upon a room that held just enough light for her to make out the form of seven individuals. She could clearly make out the profiles of Chuck, Cole, and Forrest. The three men in front of them were their captors, as evidenced by the guns they held on the agents. The identity of other man Sarah couldn't quite determine. Then he turned more towards the door and she was struck with a flash. It was Dr. Busgang. This was the man that could give her life back to her.

Going back to the previous room, Sarah began to search in earnest for anything that she could use to rescue the captives next door. There didn't appear to be anything _that_ useful, and she was left with…_a letter opener_.

For the time being, the small object would have to suffice. In the dark room it could possibly look like a knife. Maybe it would fool the bad guys enough that she could free her teammates. Then they could do what they do and protect her.

Walking slowly back to the door to the room where the hostages were being kept, she took a deep breath to try to calm her nerves. It didn't really help. She looked at the object in her hand again. This really seemed like a bad plan to her. She was about to turn back and give up, when she heard a loud sound come from within the room. Her head jerked back to the window on the door as she saw Dr. Busgang crumple to the floor. _Oh my God, they shot him!_

Inside the room, the three spies watched as the doctor was shot down by the Fulcrum agent that Sarah had identified as "Tommy." They all shared a knowing look with one another. This was a moment everyone in their line of work feared, but knew somewhere in their conscience was inevitable. The gun that had killed the scientist was turned to Chuck.

"Well, Agent Bartowski. Perseus here was of no help at all. Hopefully you won't be such a problem. Now. What did Jill do with the Intersect?" Tommy's stoic expression was being overtaken by irritation. Chuck simply stared back at the man who held him at gunpoint. "Well, then I'm sorry, Chuck."

Just as Tommy was going to squeeze the trigger and kill the CIA agent in front of him, he heard a gurgling sound from the man beside him. He saw his comrade drop to the floor and as he did, it revealed an open door and a woman standing in said doorway.

Sarah had seen the man point his gun at Chuck. She knew she had to do _something_. She couldn't just let Chuck die like that. Stilling herself one last time, she quietly opened the door and looked down at the letter opener that she held. Then, almost like a flash, a memory came to her mind.

"_Alright sweetheart. Now, if anyone messes with you, you just grab the handle like this, and snap your wrist, and let it fly." _

Her father's words ran in her ear. He'd left her, Devon, and their mom not long after that, but she could clearly remember the lesson that she'd been taught. She only hoped that she could still throw this thing like she'd been taught all those years ago.

She had a clear shot at the first henchman in the line of three. Reaching back, she let the makeshift projectile fly. The letter opener shot out of her hand and across the room, embedding itself in the jugular of the bad guy that had been her target. As the man fell to the ground, the two other Fulcrum agents, one of whom was Tommy, turned to her with their guns raised.

She darted into the room and jumped behind a table. The distraction proved to be enough, as Forrest, Chuck, and Cole took the opportunity to quickly disarm and incapacitate Tommy and his partner. Forrest had the two men cuffed and on their bellies in a matter of seconds.

Chuck on the other hand ran across the room to find Sarah. He saw her balled up in a fetal position behind the table, rocking herself back and forth. Tears were streaming down her face.

"Sarah, what are you doing here?!" Chuck's agitation was only outweighed by his concern for his charge. She didn't speak, and Chuck then noticed the distraught look on her face.

"What did I do?" she asked to no one in particular. "I killed a man. _I killed_ a man."


	5. Chapter 5

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Chuck, or the song __**Brightest of the Head**__. I own nothing really, though I'm making payments on a ton of crap_

_**A/N: **__Alright, at long last I have chapter 5 of __**Sarah vs. the Alternate Universe **__done. I completely rewrote this thing about four or five times, and I'm still not positive that I like it, but I'm ready to move on from it. Thank you to everyone who reviewed chapter 4. You guys know how much I appreciate it. I tried to respond to as many of the reviews as I could, but I'm sure I missed some, so I apologize for that. The song I used for this chapter is __**Brightest of the Head by Starflyer 59.**__ It's a good tune, so check it out, if you will. Anyway, all mistakes are my own, and please enjoy chapter 4 of __**Sarah vs. the Alternate Universe.

* * *

**_

**Cast in order of appearance**

Sarah Walker--------Yvonne Strahovski  
Chuck Bartowski------------Zachary Levi  
Alex Forrest------------------Tricia Helfer  
Cole Barker----------------Jonathan Cake  
Director Langston Graham---Tony Todd  
General John Casey------Adam Baldwin

* * *

_**If I oblige**_

_**The odds are I'd find**_

_**What makes a man is inside**_

_**Inside inside**_

_**A crooked tongue**_

_**makes for crooked speech**_

_**God forbid what I thought**_

_**Forgive what I think**_

She'd ridden with Chuck back to the base; he'd yet to say a word to her. While Sarah was generally comfortable in silence, it just felt weird when she was near the naturally gregarious Chuck. Well, she supposed he was naturally gregarious. In truth she didn't know for sure how much of the real man she really saw from him. But whether or not it was the real Chuck that always had something to say, she needed him to talk. This was the one time that she absolutely needed someone to say something. Instead, she was stuck in silence to deal with what she'd just done. Sarah Walker, who had made it her life's goal to _help_ people had ended someone's life.

When she thought about what was happening, it angered her. This guy was supposed to protect her, but now that she needed him most, he was distant and uncaring. She looked over to the driver of the car to see a focused stare affixed to his face. She wondered just how selfish and mean spirited this person that she apparently didn't know at all could be.

"You know, where do you get off?" she asked him angrily. Chuck's eyes drifted to his passenger. He looked at her with a confused expression.

"Huh?"

"I said, where do you get off? How is it that _you_ go and get yourself captured; then _I_ have to come save you; then I have to kill a man…something by the way I was not prepared for; then you get all pissed off at _me_. You listen here Agent Bartowski," and at this point, the harshness of her voice and the tears pooling in her eyes were wrought by both rage and confusion. "_I _am the one that should be mad at _you_! You said you would protect me, but you didn't," she paused as she choked back a sob. "You didn't protect me from _this_," she blubbered in closing.

Chuck was at a loss for how to handle this situation. He had a hard enough time dealing with his personal fallout when he had to kill someone for the job. Even after all of his training and time in the field, he struggled with that particular job requirement from time to time. Now here was this innocent girl that had been forced to do just that, and she wanted him to help her get though it? What was he supposed to say that would make it alright? Being at a loss for words was not something that Chuck was familiar with, but it was there that he found himself. Finally, he decided to attempt to console her, although he feared his efforts would be in vain.

"I'm sorry you had to do that Sarah. You did the right thing. I wish I could tell you that the grief part of the job gets better…but…" he trailed off. Then a thought occurred to him. She had no business being in the area to begin with. He had explicitly told her that if anything happened to the three agents, that she was to go right back to the vehicle and go home. "But you know, you shouldn't have even been there Sarah! Why did you disobey a direct order?"

Even through her grief, the look of indignation that she now wore became evident. "Do what? I couldn't let you guys be killed! Why would you ask me to do that?"

"Because it's _my_ job to protect you, not the other way around!" He didn't want to be so harsh with her, but this was a point that she needed to get through her head. His life didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was protecting the Intersect.

"Because of the stupid Intersect right?" she asked as if reading his mind. He nodded and started to reply before she started back in on him. "Well I didn't ask for this thing, so I'm sorry if I refuse to let it change who I am! And furthermore, how safe do you think your precious Intersect would be if the people who are supposed to protect it…protect _me_ end up dead? I'm guessing not very!" Before Chuck could respond, the car pulled to a stop outside the computer shop that served as the base. Sarah quickly jumped from the car and stormed inside the store to find Cole and Forrest already waiting for her.

"Nice throw Walker. Maybe you're not so useless after all." Sarah glared at Agent Forrest. She had no illusions that she could intimidate the other woman, but she didn't appreciate the comment. That single act had seemed to rob her of her innocence. It would be a long time before Sarah could come to grips with what she'd done tonight, and her two handlers weren't helping the situation. She looked over to the other agent in the room, and Cole, although he didn't say anything, at least looked at her sympathetically. _Well, nice to know that all intelligence operatives aren't all dead inside._

Chuck strode into the makeshift base and immediately made his way over to his charge. "Sarah, listen, you-"

Before he could say anything else, the monitor that had been set up in the faux employees' only room of the computer repair store blinked to life, revealing Graham and Casey.

"We received your report Agent Forrest, and I would be lying if I didn't say I was a bit disturbed by it." Before Graham could continue, he noticed that Agent Barker was still in the room. "Agent Barker, I apologize, but could I have a moment with my team?" Cole went to stand out in the common area of the store. The need for secrecy certainly raised his interest, but he'd long ago learned to not ask questions in this business.

Once Cole had left, Graham continued. "Now, tell me Forrest, Bartowski…just why was the asset left alone tonight? Have we not stressed enough the importance of having her protected? Especially you Agent Bartowski. It was after all your insistence that she be allowed to live in the outside world. If I see this trend continue, I will have no choice but to place her in protective custody." Sarah swallowed the lump that had risen in her throat. There was part of her that was happy to see Chuck getting chewed out after what he's put her through, but all of that glee was washed away by the prospects of being locked away in some secret location.

"Sirs, just for the record, I have been in favor of throwing Walker in a bunker from the onset." Forrest looked over to the horrified face of the asset. "That having been said, she showed that she is not defenseless tonight. She did well." This was about as much of a compliment as Alex ever paid to anyone. It wasn't in her nature to try to be nice. She did see the advantage in trying to gain the trust of the Intersect however. She wasn't positive if that was what she was doing, but for now, she would force herself to believe that it was.

"Damn right she did." This was the first time Sarah had actually heard the NSA general speak. The first briefing she'd been privy to had involved him mainly grunting and snarling. "Hell, maybe we should make her an agent and find a way to get that computer stuck in Bartowski's head. For now, however, that's not an option. Forrest and Bartowski, you two need to think long and hard about what you can do to better protect the Intersect." He paused and looked over to the other member of the team. "Nice work Walker." For the first time since she'd realized what exactly she'd done earlier that night, Sarah felt like smiling. Those happy thoughts were quickly washed away by the deadly glares she was receiving from the two trained assassins in the room with her.

The rest of the meeting seemed to go by routinely. It at least felt like what would be routine for these sorts of things to Sarah. The specifics of the mission were hashed out. They were upset that Busgang had been killed, but said it was better he was dead than in the hands of Fulcrum. Sarah had been upset that he was gone, seeing as he was the one that was supposed to help remove this curse from her brain; but Graham had assured her that there may be other options. Agent Barker was thanked for his help, and the meeting was adjourned.

Chuck quickly walked over to try to get a word with Sarah. She seemed to be having none of it however, as she stormed out of the room before he could speak. He followed close behind her. "Sarah, wait…we need to talk." His voice wasn't as harsh or damning as earlier, but it wasn't exactly the soothing, reassuring tone that Sarah thought she needed right this minute.

"I'm not ready to talk to you yet Agent Bartowski." Before she could walk out the door, he grabbed her arm and spun her around. The blonde looked up at the agent through malevolent eyes.

"That's too bad," he began. "You _are_ going to talk to me, and we're going to work out whatever problems you seem to be having." All Chuck really wanted to work out was her apparent inability to stay safe while in the middle of a mission. She was not intended to be put in the line of fire. Chuck knew he would do whatever he could to protect her life, and if that upset her, then so be it. He didn't want to see her dumped in some holding facility in the middle of nowhere, but if she pulled another stunt like she had during the last mission, it was almost inevitable.

"Fine," she spat. Sarah then sighed and resigned herself to making him happy so he would leave her alone. "Look, I'll stay out of the way next time. I'm sorry that you're mad at me, but I didn't want to see you guys…" she couldn't bring herself to even say what she was thinking. "I don't want anything to happen to you." She realized that it was a bit uncomfortable after her unintended admission of worrying about him specifically, so she tried to amend that part. "I don't want anything to happen to either of you guys."

Before anything else could be said between the two, Cole approached them. "Well, I do believe we are late." Sarah and Chuck looked at him quizzically. "Come on Chuck, you are well aware of the standard post op drink required by both federal and international law." Chuck rolled his eyes, but acquiesced to the suggestion anyway. "Lead the way," he instructed Barker.

* * *

_**To live is Christ**_

_**To die is gain**_

_**I try and I try**_

_**I try and I try**_

_**A crooked tongue**_

_**makes for crooked speech**_

_**God forbid that I thought**_

_**Forgive that I'd think**_

"So you two seem to know each other, so tell me, why is he so…" Sarah couldn't find the word she was looking for. Cole sensed her apprehension at continuing the thought and proceeded to try to help her out.

Looking over to the stool where Chuck had moved to be alone for a while, he sighed before beginning. "It's not you darling, I promise you that. His last partner…she…well, I suppose there's no nice way of putting it; she was killed." Cole seemed intent on focusing on the drink in his hand.

"I know," Sarah said without thinking. She saw Barker's questioning expression at her slip, so she did her best to get out of it. "I mean, I heard…I heard what happened to her. Her name was Jill, right?"

"Yeah, her name was Jill. Look, Sarah, it's just rough for him right now. To lose someone you were that close to, and then be thrust right back into the field. It's made him guarded. He's not usually like that." Cole was saddened to see his old friend in such a condition. Chuck had always been a great guy. He was certainly not the usual type you found in the spy world. In a lot of ways, he should be pursuing a relationship with this analyst. He could even tell that Chuck liked her, a lot even. But it was still so soon after Jill, his emotions must still be raw. The British spy didn't envy the road ahead for these two.

"Wait, how close were he and Jill?" Chuck had explicitly told her that their relationship was strictly professional. Something about what Cole had said made that statement ring very false.

Unfortunately, the alcohol mixed with the fatigue from the mission had loosened Barker's lips more than a bit. He didn't think to hold back when answering. "They dated. They were together for a while. Four years or so at least." And there it was. Chuck had lied to her yet again. She felt bad for him that he'd lost his girlfriend, but it didn't excuse how he had blatantly misled her. When they left, she'd have a word or two with Agent Bartowski. Or maybe there was a better way to make herself feel better…

"So, Cole, he seems like he just wants to be left alone for a while. So maybe you and I should just…" she let her voice trail off as she leaned in and kissed the M:I6 agent on the cheek, trying to pull him behind her towards the door. For a moment, he was very tempted. This woman was absolutely stunning in the outfit the CIA had put together for her, but he was above taking advantage of such a situation. She seemed like a good girl, and God knows he knew Chuck to be a terrific man. To drive a wedge between these two before they could even begin to realize the chemistry that was so apparent between the two would be something he'd regret. So, even in his intoxication, he found the willpower to decline the offer.

"I'm sorry darling; I don't think that's for the best. For many reasons, really. None of them involve a lack of interest however," he assured her while giving her a once over. "Stick with him, love. He likes you." He looked over to his somber but certainly not sober friend. "Even if he doesn't know it yet, I do." And with that, Cole took his leave. He had an early flight out the next day, and he really wanted to leave these two to work out their differences.

* * *

_**It's time it's time**_

_**I've made up my mind**_

_**But I've changed my mind**_

_**That I've made up my mind.**_

The walk back to her apartment had been made mostly in silence. This time she was much more comfortable with the lack of dialogue. True, she had to fight the urge to ask about Jill, but on the whole, she felt better about everything. Cole had even told her that Chuck seemed to _like_ her, and he seemed to know her CIA handler as well as anyone. Then a comment from the debriefing came back to her. She was being allowed to continue with her life almost entirely because of Chuck going to bat for her.

"Chuck, Graham said something tonight, that umm…that you were the reason I was allowed to stay here." He looked up at his charge, but didn't speak. He didn't know exactly what he would say to her. She helped him out. "Thank you," she said simply. She craned her neck upwards and lifted to her tip-toes to place a soft kiss on his cheek. It wasn't a romantic gesture, but one of appreciation. That said, she couldn't help but feel a similar spark to the one she felt the previous night when Chuck had kissed her goodnight. Turning quickly so he couldn't see her blush, she began to make her way inside her apartment. Before she could reach the door however, Chuck reached out and grabbed her, turning her back to him.

"Listen, Sarah, I'm sorry if I come off as a jerk sometimes. It's just…" he let his voice trail off, unsure whether or not he should share anything this personal with the asset.

"Jill?" Sarah supplied, trying to help him out.

"How did you?"

"Cole told me." He opened his mouth to protest, but she put up a hand to stop him from speaking yet. "I know why you probably told me what you did. You know how I felt about Jill," she paused while watching him nod in accordance. "But we might not have known the same Jill. I was her bestfriend at one time. Until she betrayed me. Now she's betrayed all of us. It doesn't mean that I'm not sad that she's gone. And I can't begin to understand how you must feel. I'm so sorry Chuck."

Chuck down at the blonde in amazement. Being around spies for the past decade had not left him accustomed to someone being so in touch with their emotions, and the emotions of others. Part of him thought that maybe this assignment had come along at just the right time for him. Maybe he'd find a piece of himself that he'd long forgotten. He quickly tried to push that thought away. It would be a very bad thing to think of his asset in such a way. He was here to protect Sarah…no he was here to protect the Intersect. He needed to reign in these blossoming feelings he was having. Still, he felt he should let her know he was grateful for her throughtfulness.

"Thanks," he replied simply. It wasn't like the normally conversational Chuck to be so short of words, but it seemed appropriate in this instance. He bent down and kissed her forehead before turning to take his leave. As he walked away, he struggled with the thoughts of the feeling he got from his lips making contact with her. It was as if she was the one he was destined to be kissing. He tried to banish the thought from his head. This assignment may have been what he needed emotionally, but it was going to be very hard to keep his distance from her. He vowed to be vigilant in that pursuit…for her safety.

_**I was the fairest of them all**_

_**I was the biggest of the small**_

_**I was the sharpest in the shed**_

_**I was the brightest of the head

* * *

**_

_**A/N: **__Thank you for reading. Right now, the plan is that I kind of want to finish up the rest of __**Sarah vs. Ashes of an American Flag**__. After I finish that story, which is the first part of a planned trilogy, I will come back to finish through what will be like season one of __**Sarah vs. the AU**__. That's not to say I will definitely go all in that direction, as I'm sure I'll still put some stuff out on this story, but most of my energy will go towards finishing up the other one. Switching back and forth between the tones of the two stories is just starting to get more difficult, so I'm going to try it that way for a while. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and the end of MY Cole Barker arc. Please review and let me know what you think. Until next time, you guys are awesome. Peace._


	6. Chapter 6

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own Chuck or any of the characters in this story. I sure like playing around with them though!_

_**A/N: **So sorry for the delay guys, but I really wanted to finish up the other story. And now I have, so I can work on this one more. Thank you to all of you that reviewed chapter 5...you know how I love that. There are some situations in this chapter that, while not graphic in any sense may be slightly suggestive, so just be warned, if you're easily offended, then you might want to be heads up. It does not go past the 'T' rating however, so nothing to worry about there. I didn't get this back from my beta in a decent amount of time, so I went ahead and posted. All mistakes are my own. I look forward to hearing your feedback. Please enjoy **Sarah vs. The Alternate Universe chapter 5**.

* * *

_**Cast in order of appearance**

Chuck Bartowski-------Zachary Levi  
Sarah Walker---Yvonne Strahovski  
Ellie Carmichael---Sarah Lancaster  
Devon Walker-------Ryan McPartlin

* * *

**October 29, 2007  
West Village, New York  
Unknown location**

"Sarah, everything is going to be alright, trust me." Chuck had grasping her shoulders stared directly into her eyes to convey his sincerity.

"I don't know…I've never…this is…I'm freaking out." Sarah was clearly freaking out, which they could _not_ have at a moment like this. This was too important to the mission to have her blow their covers now.

"it's just dinner Sarah." He smiled at her to try to still her nerves. Finally he seemed to have gotten through to her.

"You're right. Just dinner. Just introducing you to my family. Something, by the way, that I should not have put off for two months. Now there will be questions. Chuck, you don't understand the amount of questions you're in for. My brother will be cool, but his girlfriend? Chuck I…" She suddenly realized how she must sound, and decided to call herself out. "I'm being a little ridiculous aren't I?"

"Uh-huh. Let's go in, shall we?"

* * *

**Later that night**

And so it was that Sarah now officially hated her brother. Okay, she still loved him, but how could he do this to her? Everything was going just fine a dinner. The conversation was light; the food Ellie had prepared had been delicious; Devon and Ellie both loved Chuck immediately –which she wasn't sure was a great thing, but it did help the ever important cover.

That damn cover. That had gotten her into this mess as much, no, probably more than Devon had. But still, what was with the Captain saying Chuck should stay over? And what was with her own acceptance of this new nickname Chuck had coined for her brother? _Aarrrrgh! _Everything was so screwed up right now. She'd developed feelings for Chuck. _Real_ feelings. But they couldn't do anything about those feelings. Chuck had made that clear. But still the same, she was going to be forced to share a bed with the man she secretly wanted.

It just wasn't fair. Everything in her life had turned to crap. All because of Jill. And then it dawned on her that all of this really was because of Jill. She had been stuck in a mediocre existence because of Jill; she had gotten a bunch of secrets stuck in her head that could get her killed because of Jill; she was being forced to lie to her family because of Jill; and now she was being forced to sleep next to, but not with a man that she really liked because of Jill.

_If Jill wasn't already dead, I'd kill her_. The thought sent a shiver down Sarah's spine. She couldn't say things like that anymore in jest. She actually _was_ a killer. She had killed a person. Nearly a month now, and the memory was just as vivid in her mind as if it had happened minutes ago. If the man beside her had noticed her sudden tensing, he didn't mention it. Well, she knew that he had noticed it.

_He's a spy, he notices everything; he just didn't mention it. He probably thinks it has something to do with him lying in bed next to me wearing just boxers. I'm not buying that "in case your brother walks in here" crap either. He WANTED to put undue stress on me. That's why he's doing it. _

"You alright?" _Okay, he did notice, and he also seems to care. He's so amazing, _she swooned. Then she realized she wasn't saying anything and he was beginning to look at her a little funny. _Okay, Sarah. Time to stop staring blankly like a freak and actually say something._

"Oh, um, yeah. Fine. Just thinking." _Please let it end there. _

"Oh? What's on your mind?" _I should have known he wouldn't let it end there._

"Umm…nothing. Just thinking about that pot roast tonight. Good huh? Ellie can throw down in the kitchen!" She laughed nervously, hoping he would buy her lame deflection.

"Oh, alright," he said skeptically; but he seemed to accept her answer for what it was.

Eventually, Sarah managed to find sleep despite all the thoughts that clogged her brain. It was not a restful sleep.

* * *

_Sarah approached the door and saw Chuck, Forrest, and Cole Barker being held at gunpoint with Dr. Busgang already dead on the floor. She looked down at her hand for the letter opener she had taken out of the previous room. She didn't have it now, however. She started to furiously pat herself down to see if she could find the small object, but couldn't. She did find, however, something that was strapped to her thigh. She reached inside the slit in her gown and pulled out a small knife with notches cut in its small handle. It was a throwing knife._

_She reached back and let the knife fly at the first of the three henchmen. He dropped like a rock. The other two Fulcrum agents turned towards her, guns at the ready. Reaching behind her back, she pulled a firearm of her own, which she had been unaware until then that she was carrying. Taking aim, she quickly dropped "Tommy" and the other goon with two shots. _

_Walking over to survey her carnage, she no longer saw the bodies of three Fulcrum agents. The corpses on the floor now belonged to Chuck, Ellie, and Devon. She looked up at her partners, but it wasn't them anymore either. It was Anna, and Sarah herself. They were just looking at her and shaking their heads with a judgmental look on their faces. She began to back away, but stumbled over the three felled bodies behind her. Glancing down, she saw their eyes snap open as all three seemed to stare right through her. _

"_Why'd you do it Sarah? Why'd you kill us?" they asked her. She furiously shook her head._

"_I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to. I'm so sorry!"

* * *

_

Sarah shot up in the bed in a cold sweat. Tears were running down here face and her breathing was fast and heavy. Chuck sensed her panic and awoke to see what could have caused her to stir.

"Sarah, are you alright?" he asked, grabbing her arm. She snatched the limb back from him, afraid of any contact at the moment. It was just too real just yet. "Sarah?" he repeated.

"No, um. No, I mean, yes, I'm alright. Nothings wrong," she lied. Unfortunately, her bunk buddy for the night had been trained to spot lies and he certainly wasn't falling for her poor attempt to hid the truth from him now.

"Sarah, I know that's not true. Whatever it is, you can talk about it with me. You know I'll do whatever I can to help you." He had all ideas what was bothering her. It was the same thing that haunted everyone in their line of work. The nightmares had long been something Chuck had come to accept. He thought it unfair, however, that Sarah, who'd not chosen this life but had it chosen for her should have to go through those experiences. If opening up about it could help, he really wanted her to give it a shot.

"It was just..umm…it was just a nightmare. Nothing to worry about." She tried to force a smile to illustrate her point. Chuck, however still wasn't buying it.

"Sarah, we all have nightmares this business, but I don't want you to have to put up with them. Please, just let me know what it was. Maybe I can help you work through it." He began to gently rub her back in a soothing fashion. Seeming to relax under his touch, she took a deep breathe before beginning.

"Chuck, I killed someone. I can't get that out of my head. When I close my eyes, I see him drop to the floor dead, because of me. I can't stand it, Chuck. I don't want to kill people, I want to help people. I didn't mean to. I'm so sorry," she choked out as tears streamed down her face and her body was overtaken with sobs.

"Shhh," he whispered, pulling her into an embrace. She latched onto him in a very firm hug. "Sarah, you did what you had to do. You saved my life. Please don't feel bad about it. You did the right thing."

"But what about next time, huh?" Her voice was now angry, frantic. "What about the next time I decide it's what I 'have to do?' What if it's not someone holding you at gunpoint? What if it's a rude customer at the Pharmgreens? What if it's Forrest when she is making fun of me? What if it's… Chuck, I'm a killer! I don't know how to handle that!" She shook uncontrollably and she buried her face deeper into Chuck's shoulder. He just held her for the moment and let her cry.

"Sarah, you're not that kind of person. You're a _good_ person. It's hard, God, I know it's hard, but you'll get through it. And I'll be here to help you."

Sarah looked up into his deep brown eyes. She could tell that he was trying to be strong, but those expressive eyes of his told of the pain he felt for her. It was then that she realized that he really _was_ here for her. His eyes said as much. The emotions that flitted across his face were not those of a handler worried for his asset. He was a person who was worried about another person. He was a man, worried about a woman. She'd never felt closer to him.

Hesitantly, she moved to place a soft kiss against his lips. He didn't back away, but he didn't respond. Embarrassed by her actions, she quickly drew back into herself. She was never that forward, and she'd known that she shouldn't have been this time. She had just thought…

Before she could reprimand herself any further, Chuck grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her to him with tremendous force. Their lips crashed together as he cupped her face with one hand. The other hand he'd moved to her back holding her firmly against him. Once the shock of the moment wore off, Sarah began to return the kiss more fervently. She began to run her fingers through his curly mess of brown locks even as her lips parted slightly to grant his probing tongue access to her mouth.

Chuck thought for what must have been the fiftieth time since he'd first taken her in his arms that this was a terrible idea, and a mistake. Those thoughts were all washed away however when Sarah's tongue began to intertwine with his own. He pressed her back down to the bed even as their hungry mouths continued to take of one another. Sarah lightly dug her nails into his bare back as she felt the weight of him deliciously force down on her.

_Chuck, one last time, bad idea. This is definitely going to end badly._

_Sarah, you should not be doing this. He has told you that this can't happen._

Neither of them was listening to their conscience anymore. There instincts were speaking too loudly.

Out in the hall, Ellie had gotten up to get a glass of water. She heard noise coming from Sarah's room. Pressing her ear up against the door, she heard the unmistakable sound of passion. She smiled brightly as she made her way back to the room she shared with her boyfriend. Sarah had become like the little sister she'd never had, and nothing made Ellie happier than seeing those she loved be happy.

"Well, honey," she spoke to Devon as she entered the room. "I don't think you're the only Walker that got lucky tonight." The couple shared a smile before Devon sat back up in bed.

"That's awesome babe. Come'ere," he said, pulling her back down to the bed with him. Devon couldn't have been happier. He had the love of his life here with him, and his little sister, who was the sweetest person in the world, had finally found a decent guy. As far as he was concerned, things were going great in Casa Walker.

What he didn't know was the regret that would soon exist in the bedroom next to his. He also didn't know about the surveillance equipment that was set up in there to monitor his sister. Most people, in fact didn't know about that. Ellie didn't, Sarah didn't, and even Chuck didn't. But Agent Forrest knew, and she was quite surprised by what her video feed was showing tonight.

* * *

_**A/N: **Alright, thanks for reading guys. I'll try not to let so much time pass before the next one. I really will. So, what is Forrest going to do? How will Chuck and Sarah react? What will Graham and Casey say? A lot to talk about after this one. Please let me know what you thought. Anyway, that will about do it for me this time. Thank you again for reading, and as always, you guys are awesome. Peace._


	7. Chapter 7

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Chuck. By now, you all should know that. If I'd been the owner of Chuck it certainly wouldn't have taken Bryce 35 episodes to die…I'm just kidding Bryce fans *grumbles*_

_**A/N: **__Alright, it's been a while I guess…I didn't intend to take this long, but I finally found my footing I think with this story. How did I find my footing? Well it's all thanks to the massive contributions of the incredibly intelligent, remarkably funny, and amazingly lovely __**Yokaputo, **__who wanted me to remind you that she was NOT the co-author of this chapter…but between me and you, it couldn't have been done without her. Thank you to all the reviewers from chapter 6. You guys make it fun to write. This is the beginning of a probably three chapter arc, though we'll see if I can maybe wrap it up in the next one. I look forward to your feedback. Alright, enough of my yentering it up, please enjoy __**Sarah vs. the Alternate Universe chapter 7.

* * *

**_

**Cast in order of appearance**

Chuck Bartowski-------Zachary Levi  
Sarah Walker----Yvonne Strahovski  
Alex Forrest-------------Tricia Helfer  
Anna Wu--------------------Julia Ling

* * *

**Casa Walker  
West Village, New York  
October 29, 2007**

Their lips continued to melt together as their hands continued to wander over new and unexplored ground. Chuck rolled over, pulling Sarah on top of him. She moaned lightly into his mouth as their tongues continued the complex dance that only they seemed to know. As Sarah slid herself up the slender frame of her CIA protector, her shirt rose just slightly exposing a hint of midriff. The exposition just happened to be where Chuck's hand was pressed into the small of her back; the meeting of his hand and her bare skin causing her breathe to hitch. Now there had been skin-to-skin contact so the next natural step was merely a formality as he pulled the rest of her shirt over her head.

Sarah briskly shook her long blonde hair out of her face as Chuck pushed a rogue strand back behind her ear. The lust and hunger and craving contained in their eyes –his a deep mahogany brown, hers a sparkling azure- took of one another as they paused for a moment. The moment of still passed as they crashed back into one another with thunderous passion. All rational thought of appropriate behavior had long abandoned the two as they continued on the forbidden path they'd resigned themselves to follow.

Then Chuck's phone rang. In that moment the two nearly lovers snapped back to being asset and handler. They stared at one another with wild eyes, realizing for the first time with clear minds their current state of undress. Their breathing was heavy and for the moment they were both paralyzed with shock and dismay and unquenched lust. Another ring -the third- drove them from their state of temporary hypnosis as they both moved quickly away from one another -Chuck reaching for his phone and Sarah her shirt.

"So, Bartowski, having a good time over there?" It was Agent Forrest.

"What?" he croaked out. He cleared his throat and spoke again. "What's that Forrest?" He said the other agent's name loud enough so that Sarah could hear who he was speaking with. She immediately froze and began careful observance of the call she was only privy to half of.

"Oh, I'm just referring to the little live porn show you two just put on for me. While I _have_ been getting a bit lonely over here, you really didn't have to do that for me." Her smugness seemed to ooze through the phone. She had him and it was clear that she _knew_ that she had him.

He couldn't believe he didn't think about the surveillance in Sarah's room. His partner was NSA after all, and invading the privacy of others was what they did best. It would have generally been a common courtesy to cut the surveillance while Sarah was under the protection of her other handler, but Forrest wasn't really the type to let courtesy get in the way of protocol. He only had one chance to keep this from getting really bad, really quick.

"I'll be over there in a minute." This was something he felt he could probably lie his way out of, but he couldn't do it in front of Sarah.

"Where are you going?" Sarah asked him as he began getting dressed, still unable to meet his eyes after their earlier escapade.

"That was Forrest. Something came up. I have to go check on whatever it is, but I'll be back in a few. Just stay here."

As Chuck quietly left her bedroom, Sarah couldn't help but grow suspicious over what would have drawn him away at such a late hour. Against her better judgment, she decided to investigate for herself. Waiting a couple of minutes for Chuck to have time to make it to the apartment of her NSA handler, Sarah slipped some pants on and began to creep her way down the hall to see what was going on.

Pressing her ear against the door, which like the door to her own apartment was far too thin to truly hold in any noise, she heard the muffled conversation of the two agents. Apparently, she'd missed what was said initially, but from what she gathered so far, there were cameras in her room, which was really skeevy. But more than just being awkward and gross, the presence of the surveillance had caught the action between her and Chuck.

"Barely over a month, and you're already compromising the mission. Jesus, can't you keep it in your pants for once, Bartowski." That was Forrest.

"I was doing my job, Agent Forrest," Chuck said. Just from the sound of his voice, Sarah could tell that he was agitated.

"And what job would that be? What are you an operative by day and a professional screwer by night?"

"I was doing my job by gaining control of the asset. We can't have her pulling another stunt like she did back at that art gallery. We need her to stay away from danger. It only makes sense that if she comes to think of what is going on between us as 'real' that she will listen better to instructions. She'll allow me to protect her. You know this is the course of action protocol would have me take." And he'd hit on the NSA agent's weak spot. It was indeed by the book if that was what he was doing. She had no argument against that logic. For now, she'd have to let the argument die, but she would keep an extra close eye on the other members of her team from now on.

A look of relief was on his face as he turned to leave the apartment and return to Sarah's room for hopefully some much needed sleep. He saw his deflection and the reluctant acceptance by Forrest to be a win. What he didn't see, nor could he see from inside the room was the look of rage and betrayal that Sarah had assumed upon hearing his explanation. He also didn't see her quietly go back to her bed, seething over his dishonesty. Nor did he see the tears she held back with every fiber of strength that she had.

As Sarah slipped off the pants she'd been wearing and slid into bed, she couldn't help but feel dirty. She felt used, and largely worthless. It was the worst feeling she'd had since Columbia, and the fallout between her Bryce and Jill. When Chuck came back into the room, she turned over on her side facing away from where he would be laying. Chuck didn't say anything as he stripped back down to his boxers and climbed back under the sheets of the bed. He wasn't really ready to talk about what had gone on that night, and it looked as though Sarah was going to allow him that reprieve. He was very appreciative, even if she'd never know.

Chuck's breathing eventually evened out, and he fell asleep. The woman lying next to him didn't rest so easy that night. Her attempts to find rest seemed futile, and it was hours before she was able to find any semblance of sleep. And even that was a very restless sleep. As she drifted off into that uncomfortable slumber, for the first time in a long time -but certainly not the first time- Sarah secretly hoped that she would never wake up.

* * *

**Comp North America  
Greenwich Village, New York  
October 30, 2007**

The morning had gone by in a surprising silence. Forrest had been appeased with Chuck's explanation of the action between him and the asset, so she'd said nothing more of the incident. Sarah, on the other hand, had seemed even quieter than normal since the incident. At first, he'd written it off as her being uncomfortable and confused with where things had gone between the two. After all, Chuck himself was both uncomfortable and confused about what he'd allowed to happen the previous night.

But now that the clock had long since passed noon, and was moving into more late afternoon territory, the fact that Sarah hadn't spoken to him yet today began to play much heavier on his mind. Taking a step back to really observe her actions and reactions since the two had woken up, she not only was she completely silent, but she seemed to have been distancing herself from him. Luckily her family didn't seem to pick up on it this morning, but her friend Anna was sure to notice Sarah's uncharacteristic behavior.

As if reading his thoughts the slight Asian woman appeared in his window and walked in the door to his shop. Her strides, though short, contained a definite purpose. The scowl on her face conveyed as much. _Yep, she noticed; and she's pissed._

"What the hell did you do to my friend?! She hasn't said a word to anyone today, and it is quite obvious that she's holding back tears. I've had to help her overcome too much for you to come in and screw her up again. I swear, if you break her heart-"

Anna's furious rant was cut off as Chuck held up a hand to quiet her. Her expression, still quite angry, seemed to indicate that she would listen, but that he better have something good to say.

"Listen, Anna, I don't know what's going on. I care a lot about Sarah. If something is bothering her…maybe I should go talk with her." He used the most soothing voice he could muster. It wasn't easy given his current feelings of exasperation and anger. His asset was risking the compromise of their cover, and he had to fix it before it was too late.

He walked confidently into the Pharmgreens. Looking around the store, he found her sitting at her usual place –behind the pharmacy counter. As their eyes met briefly, a predatory glare cast itself on his face. Sarah had been surprised to see an apparently upset Chuck as he approached her. She also didn't understand how he could justify being cross with her. He had used her, and dismissed her under the false pretense of actually liking her all for the purposes of control.

But despite her silent protests, his frustration with her didn't seem to be waning in the least as he finally reached her, his eyes boring holes in her own. "Is it a personal goal of yours to blow our cover?" She looked at him defiantly, refusing to answer his baiting. "Anna came to visit me," he continued. "Apparently, your behavior is noticeable to everyone around you. So I'll ask you again, are you intentionally trying to sabotage our cover?"

"I don't give," she started much louder than she'd intended. She took a breath to calm herself slightly before going on. "I don't care about the stupid cover, but I didn't say anything to anyone. I don't know why you're all pissed at me. I did nothing wrong. The only one that has the right to be angry is _me_." She had managed to keep her words at a whisper despite the venom they contained.

"You, why would you be upset?" Chuck matched her whispering tone as he noticed that the couple had managed to gain the attention of many of the employees of the Pharmgreens. The emotions that flitted across her face did not escape the spy's attention. He knew just from the expression she wore that whatever had upset her would most likely be a long diatribe of…something. He also knew that this wasn't the place for it. "Know what? We're supposed to have a cover date tonight anyway. We'll talk about this then. Come over to my place around seven and we'll talk about whatever you need to get off your chest. Now we have to do something about the cover," he finished as he leaned in to give her a light kiss. "See you tonight," he said over his shoulder as he walked away.

That confrontation upset Sarah even more. True, the kiss had been nice, but last night she'd gotten her confirmation that nothing with Chuck was real. He had seemed caring and concerned at the end of his little speech, but she knew that was just as faked as anything. She was lost in this world of lies and deceit. It wasn't something she was accustomed to or comfortable with. She heaved a deep sigh as she began to mentally prepare herself for tonight, when she would lay all of her emotions out on the table for someone who most likely couldn't care less.

* * *

_**A/N: **__Thank you for taking the time to read. I hope to hear from you on how much you loved/loathed this chapter! Thanks again to __**Yok**__, and I hope I've managed to entertain you just a little. I look forward to your feedback, and you guys are awesome. Peace._


	8. Chapter 8

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Chuck, nor am I paid any money for writing this. I would like to be paid for writing though, so if you have a job in mind, how 'bout leave it in your review ;-)_

_**A/N: **__Thank you to every one of the wonderful reviewers of Chapter 7. I know I messed up and called it chapter 8, and I'm sorry about that, but this is the real chapter 8. Okay, so I hope you've enjoyed where I've gone with this so far. Once again, I would like to thank the incredibly amazing, and absolutely stunning __**Yokaputo**__ for all her many contributions to this fic. She wants to be described as just a helper, but she is much, much more than that…just so you know. Also a big thanks to the extremely talented author __**sm93Starbuck**__ for looking through it for me and catching some bonehead errors on my part. Both of you ladies make me look far better than I actually am, and I am indescribably grateful for that. Alright, now for the chapter, I hope you enjoy it, and I look forward to your feedback! Here's __**Sarah vs. The Alternate Universe chapter 8.

* * *

**_

**Cast in order of appearance**

**Sarah Walker------Yvonne Strahovski  
Chuck Bartowski---------Zachary Levi  
Alex Forrest------------Tricia Helfer

* * *

**

**West Village, New York  
October 30, 2007**

"So where are we going?" Sarah looked about skeptically as Chuck continued to lead her on their walk to their "date."

"My room," he answered simply.

"Your…listen Chuck, maybe what happened last night wasn't right, or it was too fast, and I just don't know if I'm ready to-"

Chuck cut off her nervous rambling with laughter. She stared incredulously at him. She still wasn't over her anger with him, and now he was laughing at her? If he wasn't a highly trained assassin, Sarah would have a good mind to…well, she'd do something to him. Then it really struck her what he appeared to be doing. He was going to try to finish his seduction to "gain control" of her. Well, if that's what he had planned, it was going to be a long night for him. Finally Chuck regained his composure and was able to speak to break up her dark thoughts.

"We're not going there so we can do _that_. We're going to my room because it is one of the few places we don't have to worry about surveillance. If we go to a restaurant, Forrest will follow us and will be listening in to what we say. If we stay at your place, well, you know about the bugs now. My room is my private residence. There is no surveillance there and we can speak freely"

She began to process what he had told her, and a smile started to quirk up onto her lips. He actually was making an effort to have a _real_ conversation with her. Maybe he would finally come clean to her about what exactly _this_ was that was going on between them. That thought gave her a feeling of relief; the first such feeling she'd had in some time.

The rest of the walk was covered in almost complete silence, but the heavy feeling of anticipation for the conversation that was to come and the thoughts of what they should say more than supplied exodus for their nervous energy. The only stop along the way was a local pizzeria that Sarah had been insisting Chuck try for weeks now. So with the vegetarian pizza, no olives –as per Sarah's demand- in hand, they finally made it back to Chuck's room.

They both started to enjoy their first slice with an unspoken contest having been forged to not be the first to talk. The rebuttal always seemed to be the strongest position in these types of situations. That was a fact that Sarah had learned through her many fights with Bryce back at Columbia, and Chuck had learned during his Agency training.

Finally, not able to stand the tension any longer, Chuck was the first to crack. "Listen, Sarah. Last night was something that shouldn't have happened. I'm sorry that I let my emotions get the best of me; it's completely my fault, as I'm the one that has been trained to control my feelings. I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough last night, and I'm sorry I let you down."

Sarah wore a thoughtful expression as the wheels in her head processed what Chuck said. He'd apologized outright for what happened, but not his motivation. Why would he apologize for what happened if it had all been a plan to get close to her and gain control over her?

"Chuck," Sarah began cautiously. "If you're unhappy with the way I'm performing as an asset…if I'm not doing what I'm supposed to do, then why wouldn't you just come and talk to me, and tell me what you expect of me?"

The agent was befuddled by Sarah's question. It seemed so out of place for this conversation. The only thing that would make her question him in such a manor would be…_Oh crap; she heard what I said to Forrest. Dammit, she wasn't supposed to hear that!_

"Okay, judging by your question, I'm guessing you heard my talk with Forrest last night." Sarah's gaze dropped to the table as she nodded in reply. "Sarah, what I said to her was to cover for what happened. Listen, I won't lie to you and say that I haven't used that type of manipulation with people in the past. That would insult your intelligence, which is something I would never dream of doing. But you have to believe me when I say that since I've come to know you, I've _never_ tried to gain your trust that way. I respect you Sarah. And I really enjoy the time I get to spend with you. If things were different…" he let his voice trail off.

"If things were different, then maybe there could be something between us," she said, finishing his thought. Chuck was now the one reduced to answering with a nodding of his head. Sarah sighed as she looked back up to him, running a hand through her hair. "I'm sorry that I didn't trust you Chuck. This is all just really hard for me. I mean, you're such a great guy, and I have to pretend to be with you, and then…it's just hard, you know?"

He reached out and took Sarah's hand in his own while looking deeply into her deep blue eyes. "I do know Sarah. It's hard, and it's not fair, but we have to work together on this. I'm going to keep you safe, and one day, you'll get the Intersect out of your head, and you'll be free to have something real with someone that deserves you." _Because I certainly don't deserve someone like you, _he added silently.

"And what happens to you then? When do you get to have something like that?" She studied him closely, and clearly saw the pain that was evident for the briefest of moments on his face before he schooled his expression and began to answer.

"I made a choice to sacrifice my chance for that type of life, Sarah. It's hard sometimes, but it was the right choice. I have a duty to protect something much greater than myself, and it's a duty I don't take lightly. So, to answer your question, I will never get to have something like that. I don't get the chance for love, or family, or even friends really."

She didn't want to patronize him with pity, but it was hard not to look at him sympathetically. He was such a good man, with a beautiful spirit, and to see him trapped in that life of solitude was heartbreaking. But if they couldn't be a real couple, and they couldn't love one another, she certainly would offer what he _could_ accept, and what he could return.

"Chuck, I'm sorry that I didn't understand before. I'm sorry for what I've put you through. But I don't care about what protocol says, I'll be your friend. I consider you a friend." He glanced up to her gaze, his sad brown eyes meeting her thoughtful blue ones. He saw nothing but sincerity in those orbs. And although he knew he shouldn't, he felt touched by her gesture and decided that even the CIA couldn't take this olive branch from him.

"If you mean that," he started, feeling the need to qualify his response for no reason in particular. "I would really, really like to be your friend. It's been a long time since I've had one."

"Of course I mean it," she said with a slight chuckle that belied the tears welling in her eyes. She moved around to his side of the coffee table and wrapped him in a warm embrace. It wasn't at all a romantic gesture, but instead a hug of support between friends. After shying away slightly to begin with, Chuck accepted her hug and returned it, wrapping his arms around her in response.

The two friends continued to hold one another for several more minutes before Chuck's phone rang yet again. And once again it was Forrest. This time, they had a mission. They were to meet at the base inside Comp North America in fifteen minutes for a briefing. So begrudgingly getting up from their comfortable sitting positions, they began to make their way to base.

* * *

**Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal  
Newark, New Jersey  
October 30, 2007**

If not for being the handlers of the Intersect, such a dull mission would have never fallen to Agents Forrest and Bartowski. Chuck of course took the boring nature of the night in stride, as he seemed to do most things. Forrest on the other hand seemed even more ill tempered and mean spirited than normal, not missing a single chance to take a verbal shot at Sarah. She would never say anything, but the barbs that the female agent always felt necessary to dish out often times hurt. It wasn't Sarah's fault that they had to come to the stupid docks and look through piles of containers hoping for a flash after the smugglers and their dangerous associates had already been taken into custody before they even got there.

But she trudged on through the hurt feelings and all, intent on carrying out her role, not for Forrest, but for her _friend_, Chuck. That title may not be everything she'd hoped for from the man of her apparently not so secret desires, but it was still important. Friends meant the world to Sarah, and if Chuck was really willing to commit to a friendship with her, then she would certainly not reject him. He was too special to her for her to shut him completely out of her life.

After what seemed like ages, they'd finally come to the last row of containers left to be inspected. Surprisingly, not one thing had triggered a flash for Sarah, until a very large container with a certain shipping number…

_A blue whale  
Shipping manifests for this container  
A large time sensitive capsule  
The word FULCRUM  
A blue whale_

"Oh, umm…this is the one I think." Sarah tried to blink away the lingering pain from her flash. No matter how many times she had to do it, the headaches never seemed to go away.

"What did you see?" Chuck asked.

"This shipment belongs to Fulcrum. It's time sensitive, and it looks like," she swallowed hard "it looks like a bomb." That got the immediate attention of her two handlers as their eyes snapped up to watch her, to make sure she hadn't misspoken.

"A bomb? Are you sure Sarah?" Chuck's voice was still reassuring, if a little frantic.

"I don't know for sure if it's a bomb. They didn't have any courses in bomb recognition at Columbia, but it is a biological capsule with a timer on it. It is very large, and yes, from what I've seen in the past, it appears to be a bomb." She didn't like the accusatory stares the agents were giving her. Well, she didn't like the stare Forrest was giving her. She could live with Chuck looking at her however he liked, as long as he was looking at her. _Okay Sarah, one: you agreed to just be friends, and two: you need to focus on the situation._

"You better not be making this up, Walker," grumbled Forrest, breaking Sarah from her thoughts. The blonde stared indignantly at her female guardian.

"I don't make things up, Forrest. I just report what I see. Now I can't guarantee that it _is_ a bomb, seeing as I have not been trained to know a bomb when I see one, but the flash made it pretty obvious that whatever is in there is not good. Fulcrum isn't related to many things that _are_ good." It had been a long night, and she was done taking Forrest's crap. They asked her to perform a role, and she was doing the best she could to follow through.

Chuck shot his partner an annoyed glare. "She's right, Forrest, we're better to be safe in this situation. Call in a bomb squad and I'll take Sar…the asset to a more secure area in case it is a bomb."

Forrest sighed in resignation. "Fine, you do that." She watched as the CIA agent and the asset walked away, and was unable to resist just one more parting shot. "But while you two are locked down, how about no repeats of last nights little peep show." She was fixed with hard stares from her two teammates, but Forrest really couldn't care any less. If she was going to be this miserable, she was going to try to make everyone around her feel just as bad.

* * *

**Comp North America  
Underground Bunker  
October 30, 2007**

"Huh…this is what they were talking about when they mentioned putting me in a bunker then?" Sarah looked around at the empty, sterile surroundings of the 'secure facility' to which Chuck had brought her. In reality, it was a plain white room buried underneath his cover business that housed their secret base. The thought of spending a life time in such a place definitely didn't appeal to Sarah in any way.

"No," Chuck laughed. "This was put in place when the CIA purchased the building so that, for now, we have somewhere safe to keep you in case of some type of attack."

"I guess that makes sense, but isn't that a waste of money? Couldn't they come up with a better way to keep me safe?" Logic and reason. As a member of the scientific community, they'd long been a foundation within Sarah's world. In the spy world though, they often seemed to be far from the chosen solution. She missed them.

"Well, no. There is no better way to secure your safety. Not as far as I'm concerned. The government would tell you that going to an established secure facility would be the absolute best way to keep you safe."

"But you disagree?"

Suddenly, Chuck seemed to find his shoes very interesting. His eyes didn't even wander toward Sarah's. "I do. I think that your physical well being might be better protected there than in the field, but I don't think it's the best way to keep _you_, Sarah, safe."

She looked at him quizzically, trying to formulate an appropriate way to voice the questions she had about his statement. "How…how do you mean?"

Chuck sighed and finally met Sarah's gaze before speaking. "Listen, you…I see how important your family and friends are to you, Sarah. If you got taken away from all that…it might be good for the Intersect, but it would destroy Sarah Walker. And no matter how important the Intersect is, I can't let Sarah Walker sacrifice herself for it. The world needs Sarah Walker." _And I need Sarah Walker, _he added silently. He'd never voice that thought, but he knew it was true still the same.

An awkward silence fell between the two after Chuck's statement. Neither party knew exactly what to say next. To say anything further would risk stepping over the line, and to say anything less would seem to cheapen the heart felt statement he'd made and the unspoken one Sarah knew that he implied. After several moments of the continued quiet, Chuck excused himself to "go over some reports." Really he just needed time to clear his head.

Sarah took the rare moment of quiet solitude -something she had been in excess of before the Intersect, but since had become sorely lacking- a welcome opportunity to work on her as yet untitled autobiography. It was something she'd began about a year after the Columbia incident as a means of simple therapy, but as of late had become something she was sure would be a terrific read. Well, it would be a terrific read if the United States Government would ever actually let her release the writing, which she was quite positive they would not.

She sighed at that thought, frustrated that her life wasn't even hers anymore. She took a moment to seek Chuck out and study him from afar. It bothered Sarah to see someone she'd come to care about bothered so deeply. And as much as he tried to hide it, she could see the worry and confusion that always seemed to cloud his visage when he didn't know she was looking. She'd have to talk to him about it later. This place was no doubt bugged to the hilt, and they didn't need another situation like the previous night.

So intent was Sarah on her writing that she barely noticed the sound of the door to the bunker sliding open. It was Forrest, so whatever had been in that box must not have been too lethal. Sarah then noticed the odd look that had etched its way onto Forrest's face. It looked almost like she'd seen a ghost. Little did the blonde know that in Forrest's mind, that is exactly what had happened.

"Bartowski, a word?" said Alex, in a voice far less confident than was normal for her. Chuck looked tried to decipher what exactly had gotten to the other agent to make her appear so ashen. Forrest was a hardened veteran, having served far more years than he had. And he'd seen the worst of the worst, so he knew that Forrest should be able to handle whatever it was. The fact that she'd behave like that both worried and intrigued him.

Sarah watched as the two agents moved off to a corner of the bunker. Whatever Forrest said was short and to the point. But that didn't take away from its gravity apparently as Chuck's face contorted into a similar pale expression as Forrest wore. He muttered something before he began to move towards the door of the bunker and disappeared back up the steps to the shop. The shocked look on his face never disappeared.

"Where's he going," Sarah said. Forrest didn't respond, merely staring off into space. "Hey, what the hell is wrong with you two? If you're not going to be protecting me, you can at least tell me what's going on!"

Forrest looked at the younger woman, searching for the right words. Finally she decided on what she would say. "It's personal."

* * *

_**A/N: **__Thank you ever so much for taking the time to read my little work of fiction. I really hope you appreciated it, and I hope you'll let me know what you think. Thanks again to __**Yok **__and __**Coffee**__ for their help with this chapter, and until next time, you guys are awesome. Peace._


	9. Chapter 9

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Chuck; I don't own Sarah either for that matter. Given the choice of owning one of them, I think I know who I would pick. Sorry, Chuck._

_**A/N: **__Sorry for the wait guys. I'm thinking about once a week in what you should expect from this story…unless something comes up that causes me to delay it more. I appreciate your patience, though, and I'm happy to have you all still reading. The reviews for chapter 8 were awesome, as always. I didn't go for the surprise reveal with this chapter, because you all pretty much knew what was coming. I did a couple of flashbacks that I hope you enjoy. I don't name the chapters of this fic, but if I did, this one would have been called First Impressions…see if you get the double meaning to that one and let me know. Anyway, I owe a giant debt of gratitude to __**sm93starbuck**__ and __**Yokaputo**__ for beta reading this chapter for me. You ladies are simply spectacular, and I really appreciate the help. __**Kroblues**__ also looked over an early version for me and was very helpful as well, so thanks Kro! Any mistakes you see are my own. Those three guys just saved me from having even more of them. And now, please enjoy __**Sarah vs. the Alternate Universe chapter 9!

* * *

**_

**Cast in order of appearance**

**Devon Walker….….Ryan McPartlin  
Sarah Walker….Yvonne Strahovski  
Jill Roberts…..….Jordana Brewster  
Anna Wu….....................Julia Ling  
Chuck Bartowski………Zachary Levi  
Langston Graham………..Tony Todd  
Alex Forrest…………....Tricia Helfer

* * *

**

**Columbia University  
Move in day  
August, 1999**

"Whoa, calm down little sis." Devon set down the final box of Sarah's things on the floor with a thud. She glared at him for the haphazard treatment of her possessions, but more so for his attempt to downplay the severity of the situation.

"Careful with my stuff, Devon," she huffed. Turning her back to stare out of the window, she made her best attempt at hiding her panic. It didn't work. Despite the fact that since her mother had left them nearly five years ago she'd become somewhat of an expert keeping her emotions internalized, she'd still never been able to keep them from her brother.

"This," he began as he patted the top of the box he'd just dropped "is linens. But that's not what's bothering you, so spill it." Sarah wouldn't look at him, trying to avoid his penetrating gaze. "It's about the roommate isn't it? Sarah, it's going to be fine. I'm sure this Jill's a nice girl." The blonde stiffened at the mentioned of her last minute addition roommate.

"I would have been fine with a roommate, Devon, if I had been told in advance that I would have one. But no, they just push this on me at the last second." Sarah's frustration continued to mount as she paced the room. "I mean I don't even know anything about this person!"

"Well I guess we'll have to work to change that," said a new voice. "Hi, I'm Jill," said the brunette.

"I'm Sarah," was the reply said through a sheepish grin. "It's nice to meet you Jill," Sarah added meekly.

"It's nice to meet _you_ Sarah. And I'm sorry about the last minute change. I know you feel like it's an intrusion. But you know what?" Sarah looked up to the much more socially functional young woman who she'd be sharing a room with. "I think we're going to have a good time. Can I help you unpack?"

* * *

**Pharmgreens  
Greenwich Village, New York  
October 31, 2007**

"Why?!"

"You said we were going to be-"

"I _said_ we were going to be the Bennet sisters. You're supposed to be Lydia, and _I'm_ Elizabeth!" Sarah was not having a good day. She was still freaked out by the behavior of Forrest and Chuck, and hadn't gotten any answers for what may have caused it. Add to that the fact that she'd been unable to speak with Chuck at all since whatever happened, and he wasn't even at work today. And now to top it all off, Anna had screwed up their Halloween idea and come as…

"A nun, Anna? Really?"

"Listen, _Lizzy_, I'm sorry if I don't know who the hell the Bennet sisters are. I thought you meant Sister Bertrille."

"So you're not just a nun, you're a freaking flying nun?"

"Yes," Anna answered calmly. "And I thought it was a great idea for a costume, though I do admit I was curious as to why you would want us to be dressed exactly the same. Generally girls try to avoid that, Sarah."

Huffing in frustration, Sarah marched away from her clueless friend. Running her hand through her hair, she was resigned to spending the rest of the day dressed as some nineteenth-century freak all alone. On the bright side, no one would pay her much attention as long as Jeff stayed around dressed as a beer bottle with the label pulled off. And if that didn't distract people's gazes, then certainly the inappropriate contact between the nun and "Father" Morgan would keep them from gawking at the bizarrely dressed pharmaceutical assistant.

Sarah decided that once more she would try to reach Chuck to see what was going on. Once again, her call went straight to voicemail.

* * *

**CIA Building  
Langley, VA  
February 2004**

Finally, after over a year of menial missions that required little more than security detail of people who were far less important than they thought, and far less endangered as well, he was supposed to be getting some real work. He'd been 'Graham's Boy' since he first stepped foot inside this building as an awkward and lost seventeen year old kid. He'd spent three years earning a degree from Yale, and eight months going through training at The Farm, and all along, he'd been considered "full of potential" as they put it. It was time to finally get to put that potential to the test, he reasoned.

Today was the day he was to be paired with a permanent partner. He'd read her dossier, and she seemed capable enough. She was a Columbia girl, and apparently a bio-chemistry wiz, which could always come in handy out in the field. The very male part of his brain hoped she was the looker her profile had described. It was well known that a sexual relationship between permanent partners was inevitable and recommended as a means of release, and after the most boring fourteen months of his life, he was looking forward to that life.

Graham had been expecting him so when he arrived at the door to the CIA director's office, he walked right in.

"Ah, Agent Bartowski, right on time. Allow me to introduce you to your new partner: Agent Jill Roberts." The stunning brunette was the most beautiful woman he'd ever met. It wasn't professional to be rendered as speechless as he was at that moment, but he found it hard not to react that way. Finally finding his bearings, he schooled his features and calmly spoke.

"Agent Roberts, I look forward to working with you."

"Likewise, Agent Bartowski," she said. Her eyes never left his, and from the moment they touched in just a friendly handshake, the base physical attraction they held for one another was evident.

* * *

**Chuck's Hotel Room  
New York, New York  
October 31, 2007**

The irony of the day was not lost on him. Halloween and he'd seen an actual ghost. It was just like Jill to show up from the dead and completely screw his life up. It was what she'd done almost since the moment he met her. Chuck had never been a heavy drinker until he met Jill. Her maddening ways had turned him into a borderline alcoholic. He'd never been in love before Jill. He'd never let anyone that close, but what he felt was surely love. Or at least it was as close as spies got to love. And that was worse than the drinking in his occupation. Love made you weak, vulnerable, and indecisive and she'd made him all of those things. Love got you killed.

Then she'd gone rogue, and she'd died. As betrayed as he'd felt and as heartbroken as he was at her loss, there was a part of him that had become lighter while she was gone. He no longer felt burdened by what she had made him become. He still had issues to work though, sure, but they were finally _his_ issues to correct. He'd enjoyed the feeling of not belonging to someone else for the past two months. He'd even started to form a friendship, a real one. And yes, when he was honest with himself, he wanted that friendship to become more, but that wasn't an option. He still felt warmed however by the fact that there was someone that genuinely cared about him as a person.

And to top it all off, the woman that had ruined Chuck's life time and time again, had ruined Sarah's life just the same. It was something else he could bond with his asset and friend over. Even after all that, she'd somehow arisen from the grave to come screw everything up for both of them again. A part of him wanted nothing more than to call Sarah and have her come over so that they could commiserate over the pain Jill had caused them both. But the larger part of him wasn't nearly ready for that yet.

He'd been in disbelief when Forrest first told him of the situation, but somehow, he knew she wasn't lying. That was something you always had to assume about other spies –even partners. A good agent was always weary of the truth behind the words of everyone, especially fellow agents. But when she'd said "Jill's alive. Call Graham," he'd known there was nothing misleading in her words. Still, when he found his way to the secure facility, and actually saw her, alive and breathing, it had been more than shocking.

He'd fled the facility and headed back to his room. He'd turned off all communications, and left no word of his whereabouts. And now, thirteen hours later, he was still here, holed up in his room. The shades were pulled closed; the lights off, only the smallest hint of light from the window was in the room. Chuck sat in the darkest corner; a nearly empty bottle of bourbon in his left hand and his phone displaying a picture of Jill in his right.

* * *

**Pharmgreens  
Greenwich Village, New York  
October 31, 2007**

"What the hell is with the outfit, Walker?" Forrest had to choke back a large laugh that would have certainly drawn attention and made their needed escape nearly impossible.

"It's Halloween Forrest. I see you've chosen to dress as a demeaning asshole. It fits you well." Sarah didn't get to many good ribbings in at her NSA handler, and she was proud of the ones she did. This one in particular felt good as it offset some of the frustration and confusion that she'd had since the previous night. Forrest didn't look the least bit amused.

"Whatever; get your stuff Elinor Dashwood, we have somewhere to be."

"Elizabeth Bennet," Sarah corrected.

"Listen Walker, I don't give a damn what fictional character you fancy yourself today, get your stuff," the agent said. "We have somewhere to be," she emphasized.

"You know what, Forrest? I'm about sick of all this cloak and dagger crap. So how about you be straight up with me for once? I'll ask you once more, and I expect an answer this time. What. Is. Going. On?"

Forrest looked at the blonde indignantly, but decided that a straight answer would probably move things along quicker than the smartass response she was more prepared to deliver.

"Your buddy Jill's alive." And then Sarah knew that her face matched the haunted look she'd seen Forrest and Chuck display the night before.

* * *

**CIA Secure Facility  
Undisclosed Location  
October 31, 2007**

"Why me?" All of the gusto that had led to Sarah's battering of the truth out of Forrest back at the Pharmgreens was gone. Now she was faced with this ghost of her past. And in many ways it felt like she was just faced with a ghost. It didn't help that her one strong hold in all of this mess that way the covert world –Chuck- was conspicuously absent and unreachable.

"It has to be you because she won't talk to anyone else," Forrest said rolling her eyes. "She asked for you." Sarah was taken aback. Why would Jill ask for her? _She'd ask for you because you're the Intersect dumbass._ She didn't know at what point that voice in her head had started to sound like Agent Forrest, but when she had the time, she'd work to correct that problem. It certainly wasn't comforting, and this was a situation that comfort was sorely needed.

Sarah moved to the door to the cell Jill was strapped down inside of. Before she entered, Forrest decided one more warning was necessary. "Remember Walker, your friend in there is a rogue CIA trained assassin." That was exactly the type of comment the blonde wanted to hear before she entered the room to see her college roommate and former bestfriend. She'd have to remember to thank Forrest for that one later. She glared at the NSA agent before continuing on as if she could convey the biting sarcasm of her thoughts with her eyes.

"Hey Jill," Sarah said nervously while swallowing back a lump in her throat. The brunette's gaze whipped around to face the new presence in the room. The restraints that confined her allowed only for head movement.

"Sarah?" she asked.

"Yeah Jill, it's me," Sarah said, still a little shaky.

"You're lying! Where is the real Sarah? What did you do with her?" Jill's voice was far angrier and more forceful that Sarah had ever remembered.

"No Jill, It's me, I swear. And why are you angry? You're the one that stuck me with this stupid Intersect thing!" Sarah was not one to play weak sister for long; especially to Jill who had destroyed her life more than once.

"Wait…it worked?"

"Yes it worked! It worked to well! You destroyed the Intersect and now I'm the only one! Why would you do this to me?" Sarah was taken back to their time at Columbia when she'd asked Jill a similar question. She was just as lost and just as confused now as she had been back then.

"Sarah…come here," Jill motioned with her head. Hesitantly, Sarah moved to stand by her former friend to hear whatever was to be whispered.

"Dammit Walker, what are you doing?" asked Forrest to no one in particular while standing in the next room. Sure enough, Jill had freed one of her arms and quickly wrapped it around Sarah's neck. Grabbing a needle from the nearby tray, Jill pressed against Sarah's neck and demanded the blonde to release the other straps.

"Let her go, Roberts!" said Forrest, bursting into the room, gun drawn.

"Think you can finish the job this time Forrest?" Jill teased. "Move out of the way or I'll kill her. You know I'll do it." Reluctantly, Forrest nodded her participation and stepped out of the way. In no time, Jill was leading Sarah down a hall, needle still at her neck until they entered the elevator.

"You know I wouldn't really hurt you, right?" Jill said with a laugh, releasing the old she'd had on Sarah.

"No, Jill. I don't know that. Why would I know that? You're a rogue agent-"

"I'm not rogue! I'm not FULCRUM," Jill cut her off defensively.

"Then what's going on, Jill? Because I'm kind of lost right now."

"Some shit's going on, Sarah." Jill sighed, rubbing a hand down her face. "I need you to take me to Chuck." Faced with the decision of either granting the wishes of the assassin or possibly facing her wrath, Sarah decided it would be more prudent to do the former. Besides, Chuck would protect her if that's where they were going.

"Okay, Jill. Just please don't hurt him."

* * *

_**A/N: **__Uh-oh…what will Chuck think when his asset and his ex show up on his doorstep? Could be fireworks (and since I'm writing it, I know that there will be haha). Thank you guys so much for reading, and if you'd take just a moment to leave me a review, I'd really appreciate it. I look forward to hearing your feedback, and you guys are awesome. Peace._


	10. Chapter 10

_**Disclaimer: **__Just as I've said in every chapter of every fic (except that one time when I forgot) I still don't own Chuck. That is all. You may read on now._

_**A/N: **__Thank you guys so much for the support, and I'm happy you're still enjoying the story. The reviews were awesome as always…and it really did motivate me to finish this chapter up sooner. I know it's only a day early, but I had most of it done on Saturday I was so excited by the response (hint, hint). Anyway, thank you ever so much the lovely and talented __**Yokaputo**__ and the very funny, always interesting __**kroblues**__ for their work betaing this chapter for me. Couldn't do it without you guys. That's all I guess, please enjoy __**Sarah vs. the Alternate Universe chapter 10.

* * *

**_

**Cast in order of appearance**

Chuck Bartowski…...…..Zachary Levi  
Jill Roberts………..Jordana Brewster  
Sarah Walker…..Yvonne Strahovski

* * *

**Buenos Aires, Argentina  
April, 2005**

Once again, the team of Bartowski and Roberts –known as the Burton couple under their current cover- had once again been assigned a very dangerous and very difficult mission. Once again a group of people who would see harm brought on the United States had been the target of one of their missions. And once again, the would-be terrorists had fallen to the skill and teamwork of Mr. and Mrs. Burton.

But much to the dismay of both of the partners, that teamwork had ended with the mission. They had been a "real couple" for almost eight months now. The passion and fire of their relationship in the early days had driven both of them to wonder why they'd fought the attraction they'd both felt almost immediately for the first five months.

Those five months had been hell. More experienced agents would have just screwed one another long ago and gotten the sexual tension out of the way. But neither Chuck nor Jill had the record of service to fall back on should a romantic entanglement between them have come to light. So they'd both ignored it for as long as they could. And that fight had taken its toll on both of them.

Chuck turned to alcohol to answer his frustrations. Whenever they'd get too close, and Jill was the one to pull away, Chuck would get drunk. Jill took her frustration out with anger toward Chuck. When they'd come close to slipping and it was Chuck to say no, she'd verbally lash out at him and try to make him feel as bad about himself as his rejection had made her feel.

The worst part of those particular problems was that they mixed very poorly with one another. Soon, Chuck's drinking had become his response not only to Jill's spurning of his advances but also the route he took to recover from Jill's anger. And Jill was by then getting angry at Chuck not only when he turned her down, but for his budding alcoholism. It had become a very vicious cycle.

But despite the problems they had working with one another on a personal level, their mounting list of accomplishments as a team had kept a splitting of the duo from being an option. And so it was one day back in late August when Chuck resolved to work things out on some level with Jill. His too good to be an agent charm and disarming smile had proven to draw Jill out of her shell, and the agents came to an understanding that day.

Their new understanding had been spoken with a kiss, and sealed with the most passionate sex either of them had ever experienced. And while that newness remained, there had been a solid uptick in both of their dispositions. But this was simply a small reprieve from the deeper issues between them that still existed.

After about a month of good times and shared joy, Jill's anger came back. She had been left out of certain details of a mission and felt frustrated and underappreciated. And she'd been unable to keep those feelings out of their bedroom that night. Of course, the return of Jill's verbal attacks on Chuck was soon followed by Chuck's return to his dependence on booze to deal with the pain.

And that was the cycle they'd still found themselves on these seven months later. Chuck had referred to it as the "Fight and fuck," routine. Jill had taken that opportunity to remind him that it would have to be "Fuck and then fight," since Chuck's response to their arguments and the "whisky dick" that came with it wouldn't allow for things to go the other way. That had led to yet another fight.

Deep down, Chuck knew that he loved Jill. He also knew that she loved him, but the pain the brought on one another had been ripping them apart inside.

"The first rule of being a spy…never fall in love." That was what his instructor, Agent Montgomery had preached to Chuck during seduction training.

Every part of this job was perfectly suited for him, except that one. When Graham had asked Chuck if he was ready to do something to save his own life, he'd gladly come along. He'd given up so much for the "greater good" but that last shred of humanity in him –the part of him that felt emotion- seemed like too much to sacrifice. Chuck decided that the CIA would just have to forgive him this one transgression. He'd always love Jill, no matter what happened.

* * *

**Chuck's Hotel  
New York, New York  
October 31, 2007**

Chuck was stirred from his drunken stupor by a pounding coming from his door. Seeing that there was still light coming through the small crack in the shades covering the window, he decided it was still too early for trick-or-treaters. _Maybe it's some east coast kids that haven't adjusted to the time yet. _Sober Chuck would have realized how ridiculous that thought was. Unfortunately, sober Chuck was nowhere to be found.

"I don't have any candy," he slurred while throwing the door open. The person before him though wasn't a kid looking for sweets, however. The pounding had apparently been coming from his asset. And she looked distressed. _Dammit, I didn't want her to see me like this. I hope she's not in trouble; I'm in no shape to protect her._

"Sarah? What are you doing here?" Chuck had tried to sound as normal as he possibly could. The scrunched face that the blonde made at his effort was evidence that he'd not succeeded.

"Chuck, I-" Before Sarah could say anymore, the door was pushed the rest of the way open, revealing the very reason Chuck had been drinking in the first place.

"Hello, Chuck. I see some things never change." He glared at his former partner's jab at his condition. But her presence there, along with Sarah caused an unexpected feeling to wash over him. His drunken self pity subsided and he was instead overcome with a need to protect his asset; to protect his friend. Agent instincts kicking in despite the amount of alcohol he'd consumed, he quickly pulled his gun from his waistband.

"Jill, I swear, if you hurt her…" He let his words of warning hang in the air. The implied threat didn't seem to faze the brunette.

"You'll what? Throw up on me? That is all you appear capable of at this time…_Agent Bartowski_."

"I'm not joking around here, Roberts," Chuck growled. "Give me one good reason I shouldn't drop you where you stand." His eyes and his aim never left his ex-girlfriend. He was prepared to end her life for real this time if she was even the smallest threat to Sarah.

"Because I didn't go rogue. The Intersect was a mission. Operation Sandstorm." Both agents turned in time to see Sarah's eyes roll back in her head. She began swaying slightly on her feet.

_A disco ball  
A folder marked "Top Secret" and labeled "Sandstorm"  
Jill's passport  
Mission specs  
A disco ball_

"What did you see Sarah?" Chuck let his eyes drift to his asset briefly before sharply turning his stare back to Jill.

"Oh, um…yeah, she's right. It was a mission." Hesitantly, Chuck let his gun fall to his side.

"Chuck, I never wanted to leave you like I did. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I still love you." She paused hoping to see some sign of returned sentiments in his eyes. For once he seemed to be masking any emotion from her. It was probably more shock than anything that was causing his hidden feelings. "And I need your help Chuck. And Sarah needs our help. If I'm here, Fulcrum will find me…find Sarah."

Suddenly, regardless of what help she may need, Sarah had come to feel like a definite third wheel. It appeared to her that her college roommate and her CIA handler only had eyes for one another in that moment. It was a very uncomfortable position to be in.

"I'll just be going," she muttered as she turned to leave the two lovers to get reacquainted. It took the spies a moment to register what had been said. When it occurred to them that Sarah would be alone with Fulcrum possibly knowing who she was, or at least that she had some connection to the Intersect. They both knew that they had to find her, and quick.

"I'll go," Chuck said quickly as he began to move past Jill.

"No, Chuck. You're still drunk. Let me go and you stay here and drink some coffee or something to sober up." Admitting that she was right, Chuck quietly acquiesced.

Just as Jill was about to shut the door and leave, Chuck spoke. "I'm sorry too Jill. I'm sorry for everything." The expression on his face was one of hurt and regret. Jill nodded in acceptance of his apology and stood up on her toes to brush a soft kiss over his lips. It still felt nice to kiss Jill, but it wasn't until he did that Chuck realized that it just wasn't the same. It wasn't the same as it had been when they'd kissed before, and it certainly wasn't the same as the times he'd kissed Sarah. He knew it wasn't the time to bring that up however. "Hey Jill," he said, stopping her from walking away. She tuned to see what he wanted. "You should check the park. It's where she always goes when something's on her mind." Jill acknowledged his suggestion and took her leave to find her old friend.

* * *

**Sarah's spot  
Central Park  
New York, New York  
October 31, 2007**

Sarah stared off into the open expanse in front of her, reminded once again that it was the unusual lack of traffic that drew her here when something was heavy on her mind or heart. That day, however, even her favorite place in the world wasn't enough to ease her burdens; they were too many in number.

It was all Jill's fault yet again. Things had been going great between her and Chuck. Okay, maybe not great; things could have been better. It was clear that they had feelings for one another deeper than friendship, but that didn't change that what they'd worked out was good. Sarah, having not had much in the way of family in years, had come to rely on her friends as a surrogate family. Putting Chuck in that category was a big deal, regardless of what category she wanted to put him in.

But then Jill came back and all of a sudden, it was like Sarah didn't exist in Chuck's world. He was still worried about the Intersect to be sure; it was, after all, his job to protect that stupid thing. But when he'd locked gazes with Jill, it was as if Sarah Walker the person ceased to exist. And she couldn't blame him for feeling like that. Jill had come back from the dead and proclaimed her undying love for him. What was a nerdy pharmaceutical assistant who was willing to take whatever her offered when compared to the beautiful super spy chick that demanded his everything?

Sarah stared down at her open hands, deep in thought and self loathing. When she looked back up, she no longer saw open space. She saw…

"Agh," she gasped at the sudden appearance of the woman in front of her. "Jill! How about a little warning next time?"

"Sorry," Jill said laughing. "Sudden entrances are sort of an occupational hazard."

Sarah shot her an incredulous look before a reply. "What do you want Jill?" she asked through hooded eyes.

Jill sighed. "Sarah, I think there are some things we need to talk about. There are some things you need to know."

"Why don't you start with why you got me kicked out of school?" Sarah shot back.

"Fine, if that's where you want to start, we will." Sarah looked surprised, which she was. Had it not been such a disturbing topic, she may have been pleasantly so. "Sarah, I," Jill paused, not sure of how much she should tell her friend. "I was recruited into the agency during our junior year. During my training, I became privy to certain information."

"Like how to be an ass to your friend?" Jill may have been trying to come clean, but for her years of suffering, Sarah wasn't going to let her off easy.

"Like the fact that the agency wanted to recruit you, Sarah." Sarah looked at the other woman with shock. This was certainly new information, but what did it have to do with why Jill framed her for cheating. "Do you remember the exam that you were accused of cheating on?"

"Of course I remember it. Dr. Flemming's class on memory and retention."

"The exam that you took in that class was a CIA front. He was a recruiter for the agency, and they were looking for a candidate that could possibly absorb and retain the Intersect." The wheels started turning in Sarah's head as she began to process this wealth of knowledge she was gaining.

"I couldn't let them take you. I couldn't let them make you into something else; into one of us." Jill spoke of her and her colleagues as if they were the worst thing in the world. Compared to Sarah, at least in Jill's mind, they were. "Sarah, you're too good of a person for this work. I couldn't let them change that. The world needs Sarah Walker."

Sarah was touched in a lot of ways. What Jill said brought up one very big question, however. "Then why did you send me the Intersect now? Why bring me into this life, and now without even the training I would have gotten the other way?"

Jill's eyes dropped to the ground. She wanted to make sure she explained this correctly, without being condescending, or giving away too much information. "Sarah, I had to send it to someone that would know what to do with it. I had to send it to someone that I knew would always do the right thing. You, Sarah, always do the right thing. You're the best person I know."

"What about Chuck?" Jill was taken aback at the sudden change in the topic of the conversation.

"Umm….Chuck?"

"Yes, why don't you trust Chuck? You said you love him. Was that a lie, Jill? If you love him, certainly you could trust him with the Intersect."

"I do love Chuck. And I do trust him, but there are more factors at play here, Sarah. Some of them I can't tell you about, and I'm sorry. But I knew that you were the right person to send it to. And I knew Chuck would find you."

"And Forrest?" Sarah asked.

"Well, I didn't exactly plan on her being here," Jill laughed. "But you're still here, so she must be doing something right." Suddenly, something clicked in Sarah's mind and she was able to piece together certain things that disturbed her.

"She's the one that shot you, isn't she?" Sarah looked on appraisingly.

"Yeah, she is. But she was just doing her job Sarah. She though I was a rogue agent. It was the right thing to do at the time." Jill seemed to struggle to admit that.

"You're not mad that she _shot_ you?" asked Sarah skeptically.

"Oh, I'm kind of pissed off about having a hole in my chest, and I don't really like her in general, but I lived. I would have done the same thing in her shoes." Sarah accepted that answer as she figured she wouldn't get much more from Jill on the subject.

"And you and Chuck? What's going to happen there?"

"I don't know, Sarah. It's…complicated." Sarah looked at her former roommate with a puzzled expression.

"How is it complicated? You said you _love_ him. And from the way he looks at you, I know that he loves you. He's a great guy, Jill. What's holding you back?" Jill then realized that her friend had developed feelings for her boyfriend…or ex-boyfriend, or whatever the hell Chuck was to her. The brunette decided to play it straight with the other woman.

"I do love him, Sarah. But we don't really work together very well. There are a lot of issues between us. Some of them you know about, and some of them you don't. Plus I need someone here looking out for you that I know can protect you, right?" She said the last part with a smile that was intended to hide the pain of the admission of what would never be between her and Chuck.

"Jill, if you two can make each other happy, you should be together. Safe or not, I couldn't stand to think that I was getting in the way of two of my friends' happiness." The last part of Sarah's statement caused Jill's eyes to shoot up in evaluation of the blonde. She didn't see any sign of dishonesty within those striking blue orbs.

"You still think of me as a friend?"

Sarah heaved a deep sigh. "I do, Jill. I still don't like what happened back at Columbia, but I understand why you did it. And you've been really honest with me today. In fact, I wouldn't have still been angry at you up until today had I not still considered you a friend."

"That means a lot, Sarah. Thank you." The two friends hugged one another as peace had finally been reached.

"So what's next for Jill Roberts?" Sarah asked, finally breaking the silence that had formed.

"I go back to hunting Fulcrum. They think I'm the Intersect Sarah. That's why they kept me alive. As long as I'm out there, hunting them and staying free, it will protect you." Sarah nodded in understanding. She was sad that her friend would have to undertake such a lonely assignment, but I felt good to have Jill helping her out once more.

As Sarah stood to walk away, Jill had but one more thing to tell her. "I really enjoyed our talk today, Sarah."

Sarah looked back at the other woman as a smile began to creep onto her face. "Yeah," she agreed. "Me too."

* * *

**Chuck's Hotel  
New York, New York  
October 31, 2007**

"Why do you have to be so stubborn?"

"Why don't you ever give up?" Sarah had been pestering him about Jill for almost an hour now.

"Look, I know I've said this, but she loves you. You love her. What is there to think about? You should be with her so you can both be happy!" Sarah knew that she was yelling at this point, but if Chuck would just stop being so frustrating and do what she knew he should do, the yelling wouldn't have happened.

"And I know I've said this, but my answer stands. I have my assignment and it is here, not with Jill." Chuck really didn't want to tell her the real reason he wouldn't even consider leaving, but if she didn't stop with her insistence, it looked like he was going to have to.

"Chuck, you deserve to be happy. You both do. And I want both of you to be happy." Her yelling had ceased and now her voice was gentle, caring. _Dammit, I can't keep this from her when she looks at me like that._

"I'm happier here with you," he admitted. Their eyes met, and Sarah saw for the very first time what she'd wanted to see from him all along. It was true, and it was real. The caring that she'd sometimes thought he had for her was finally on full display.

* * *

_**A/N: **__Thank you again for reading everyone. I hope you like how the Jill thing was resolved, and how much better my couple communicates than the canon Charah, lol. I look forward to your feedback, and you guys are awesome. Peace._


	11. Chapter 11

_**Disclaimer: **__I didn't own Chuck on Tuesday when I updated, and as of Thursday, nothing has changed._

_**A/N: **__Thank you guys so much for all of the super, duper reviews for chapter 10. I'm really enjoying writing this story right now…so much in fact, that I had to go ahead and write chapter 11 now! This chapter is a little something different. It's time for a little Forrest/Sarah bonding. Hopefully I didn't scare you all off with that, haha. A big, big thank you to my two AWESOME betas __**Yokaputo and Kroblues**__ for their work on this chapter. And thanks to both __**sm93starbuck **__and __**Yok**__ for letting me bounce ideas off of them. Alright, I look forward to your feedback, and please enjoy __**Sarah vs. the Alternate Universe chapter 11.**_

**Cast in order of appearance**

Ellie Carmichael..…..Sarah Lancaster  
Sarah Walker……Yvonne Strahovski  
Alex Forrest…………………Tricia Helfer  
General John Casey….Adam Baldwin  
Mr. Colt……...Michael Clarke Duncan  
Chuck Bartowski………...Zachary Levi

* * *

**Sarah's Apartment  
West Village, New York  
December 7, 2007**

"Oh my God! That's so great, Sarah! I'm so happy you two are moving forward with something like this. I'm just so happy for you." Sarah almost regretted telling Ellie any piece of good news. If the high pitched screech and squealing dialogue sure to make any canine within a four mile radius suicidal weren't enough reason for keeping things from her, the bone crushing hug Sarah was now having to endure certainly pushed the reasons for the value of silence over the line.

Added to all of that was the discomfort the she felt having to lie to her family and friends. This was another of those lies. To her brother and his girlfriend –and to Anna- it appeared that Sarah would be on a romantic getaway with her boyfriend. In reality, Chuck had been called in for help on a small out of town mission of which Sarah wasn't privy to any details. In order to ensure her safety, and explain his absence during his time away, Sarah would be staying in a nearby safe house for the duration of that mission with Agent Forrest.

A week with Forrest sounded about as appealing to Sarah as a night on the town with Jeff. Of course the night out with Jeff lost points when Lester was included; and Lester had to be included, as those two were inseparable. In fact, just yesterday they'd forced a demo recording of their new band "JEFFSTER!" on Sarah. They'd tried to do the same to Forrest and ended up running away screaming in fear. So in that, Sarah found a little silver lining to her time with the NSA agent: a guarantee that "Frick-n-Frack" would stay far, far away. She smiled inwardly at that thought.

* * *

**Forrest's Apartment  
West Village, New York  
December 7, 2007**

"So how long do you think Chuck will be gone?" He'd told her it would likely be only three or four days, but he always had a way of sugarcoating things for her if he didn't think she'd like the answer.

"I don't know," Forrest groaned over the top of the report she was studying. The agent knew the asset wasn't looking forward to this time secluded with her. She wasn't positive if Sarah knew just how much the agent was dreading this "quality time" herself. "It sounds like a fairly simple assignment so it shouldn't be _that_ long. Unless they're using this as an excuse to pull him from this operation."

"Is that a possibility?" Sarah tried to keep the panic and worry from her voice, but the fact that her voice was almost a full octave higher than normal defeated that goal.

"It's always a possibility Walker. And it might not be a bad idea. Bartowski has been walking a fine line with the relationship he has with you." Sarah looked at the NSA agent with panic in her eyes. She and Chuck weren't in a romantic relationship; though it had become clear that given different circumstances that it would be something they both wanted. She didn't think that the friendship they'd formed would be _that_ big of an issue. Chuck _had_ admitted to her that he could get in trouble for having any sort of personal contact with her, but she hadn't really taken that seriously.

"I need him here Forrest. He protects me!" Forrest looked at the blonde incredulously. It was clear to the agent that Walker was disturbed by the thought of the male agent being pulled for reasons related nothing to the safety of the Intersect. It wouldn't surprise Forrest if they had been sleeping together for a while now. It was clear that they were both googily eyed over one another. But when she was honest, Forrest didn't want Bartowski gone either. Their team worked well together, and they'd done a lot of good things. Alex even had to begrudgingly give the asset a lot of credit for her contributions on their recent missions. But orders were orders and there was certainly enough reason for the superiors to change things up inside of Team Sarah. Besides, there were _other_ orders that would eventually be passed down to Forrest, and when that happened, having a compromised agent with the skill of Bartowski around would make things difficult, and it could get very messy.

There was a small part of Forrest that regretted how this operation would have to end. Walker had performed admirably given the circumstances that had been forced on her. It was when she had those thoughts that Alex wished she'd been able to have one more shot at Roberts when she was there last for the fate she'd doomed the blonde to. But when the order for termination came down, Forrest knew that she'd carry out her duty; she always followed orders, no matter how distasteful. And General Casey wouldn't have her do something that wasn't necessary. Regardless of what it meant for an innocent like Sarah, the 'greater good' must be served. The lives of millions were more important than the life of one glorified cashier. _Ah well, there's no use dwelling on it. Whatever will be, will be._

"You got your bag?" Sarah held up the large duffel she'd packed for the trip in response. "Then let's make tracks. We have to check in with the General by 20:30."

* * *

**The LIE  
New York  
December 7, 2007**

The car ride had been brutally boring and quiet. For someone that was likely above getting a speeding ticket, Forrest seemed to drive like a grandma. When Sarah had questioned her about it, the question had been met with a glare and a reminder that there was a cover to protect. When Sarah had asked about Alex's history with the General, since they appeared to be well acquainted, it had been met with an even more deadly glare and some mumbling threat that Sarah was sure she was glad she couldn't hear.

If the entire time at the safe house was going to be like the ride there –which Sarah was almost positive that it would- this would be the longest week ever.

* * *

**NSA Safe House  
The Hamptons, New York  
December 7, 2007**

"Wow, this place is a lot…nicer than I expected." Sarah took in the impressive beach house before her. When she'd heard the term "safe house" she'd automatically assumed that she'd be locked in some underground prison with Forrest as her jailer until Chuck returned. Certainly a luxurious home in Amagansett never seemed like a possibility. "So, you think they'll let us summer here next year?"

The answer from Forrest sounded like a cross between a growl and a snarl. Finally she was able to articulate a reply. "I don't think spending tax payer dollars on comfortable digs in nice locations during the summer months for the Intersect is high on the list of 'things to do' for the government."

"Well maybe it should be. I'm sure I could flash better if I was made to feel better…appreciated." Sarah knew the dig would get under the skin of her handler, and that had been the point. She was not disappointed by the reaction she got.

"Just be happy they didn't stick your ass in a bunker somewhere, Walker. That's what I'd have done if I'd been in charge, but for whatever reason, the General likes you." Forrest made this admission as if the words tasted bitter coming from her tongue. Sarah however was unable to contain the small contented smile she had from learning of General Casey's fondness for her. It was a good thing to have a friend in a position of power. "Wipe that stupid smirk off your face and come on. We have to report in."

* * *

**NSA safe house  
Amagansett, New York  
December 10, 2007**

The past three days would officially go down in Sarah's book as the most boring weekend of her life. And after a high school career during which Friday's were spent playing D&D with the guys, and a post Columbia life that had included not one date, that was saying something. But as boring as her life had been in the past, she had always been free to come and go as she pleased. Something about having that freedom taken away, regardless of whether or not she would have exercised that right made her feel almost claustrophobic.

She couldn't decide if the most exciting part of the past few days had been the two hours spent every day pouring through the tedious daily reports for the two agencies, or the fourteen waking hours every day spent having nothing at all to do. As nice as the house was, she would have expected that there would at least be premium cable, but it wasn't the case. Basic cable, being forbidden from bringing a computer, and a nifty little signal jammer that prevented any cellular service rendering her brand new, government issue iPhone useless had really turned this trip into a dull nightmare.

It would still be a few more hours before the daily came in, and Jerry Springer wasn't really holding her interest, so Sarah decided that bugging Forrest may lead to at least some form of entertainment. And if not, then at least she could make the agent as miserable as she was. It was no fun, after all, to suffer alone.

When she finally found her handler, it came as no shock to the blonde that the NSA agent was busy cleaning her gun. _This woman has to have the cleanest weapons in the world. _"Forrest, how are you this morning?" The agent barely looked up at her charge before responding.

"You really shouldn't walk up on me while I have weapons around, Walker. I may be tempted to use you for target practice."

"When do you _not_ have weapons around?"

"A fair point. I suppose it would then be in your best interest to just stay away from me at all times then." Alex let out a small contented laugh following her quip. Sarah didn't find it particularly funny.

"Besides, I figured the best time to approach you was when your weapon was completely disassembled. Unless you plan on throwing bullets at me, I should be safe." A victorious grin broke out on Sarah's face. Forrest wasn't willing to concede defeat however.

"I've killed men with less. I've actually used empty shell casings to choke a man to death." Sarah swallowed hard at the agent's admission, causing a pleased expression from Forrest. "And what do you know about guns anyway, Walker? You don't exactly strike me as the Charlton Heston type."

"I own a gun." Forrest looked at the asset skeptically. "What? I do. It's in Devon's room, but…" her voice trailed off as the memories of where the gun had come from surfaced. "But my mom gave it to me. She was supposed to teach me to shoot when I turned fifteen." That had been something Sarah had looked forward to. Admittedly her fascination with weaponry was only a way for her to bond with her mother, but it still hurt that she'd never gotten to share that with the woman before she'd left.

Forrest was at a loss for what to say to the younger woman. From Sarah's file, she knew that their parents had left her and Devon while they were still growing up. It was something that the blonde never talked about, and that she was sharing this with her now somehow made her feel closer to her asset. _Dammit, don't go soft like Bartowski, Forrest._ But she couldn't really help it. It was hard not to care about someone like Sarah that cared about so many others before herself.

"You want to learn?" asked Forrest in an uncharacteristically soft voice.

"Huh?" Sarah was confused by the offer.

"We have a range out back. I can teach you…if you'd like." It was unlike the NSA agent to volunteer to spend time with her, much less do something to help her. Sarah was hesitant to respond, fearing that the gesture may just be another attempt at teasing her.

"Really?" she asked skeptically.

"Yeah, I mean, you never know when it might come in handy. You still need to stay out of the way when we're on missions, but the fact of the matter is that your security is the most important thing we do. If I can give you a way to protect yourself should you be required to, I don't see how that can be viewed as anything but a positive. I'd be willing to bet the General would even license you to carry all the time if we can make sure you're adequate enough with a weapon to warrant it. You just have to promise that just because you know how to defend yourself that you'll only use it as a last resort. If you can escape or stay out of the way, you still need to do that."

Sarah considered the offer. She really didn't want to shoot anyone. She still struggled with the knowledge that she'd ended someone's life a few months ago. So Forrest really didn't need to worry about her getting involved when it wasn't necessary. Still, it would be great to be able to defend herself in the world of dangerous people that the dealt with. And if nothing else, it would be a chance to possibly become closer to her handler, and if they were going to be stuck together for awhile, that would be a good thing. She never felt like she had too many friends.

"Alright. Thanks, Forrest."

* * *

**The Shooting Range  
Two Hours Later**

The agent was shocked with just how fast Sarah seemed to adjust to using a firearm. If she didn't know her, and it _was_ her job after all to know her, she would have sworn this wasn't her first time. But Sarah didn't lie when she didn't have to, and Forrest had been honest when she said that the blonde really didn't come off as the type to be into gunplay. That was why it was so surprising to see her flourish on the range so quickly. Of course, it had been made obvious for sometime now that this asset was full of surprises.

The most impressive part of teaching Sarah, however, had not been the natural ability she seemed to possess firing the weapon, but just how well she seemed to listen and learn. Forrest hadn't had to repeat herself once in any of the instruction she'd given to the other woman. It befuddled the agent how someone with this type of potential at an Ivy League school had escaped recruitment by some government agency. _Maybe there's hope for her after this Intersect business is over after all, _thought Forrest. If she could find some way to lead Sarah toward becoming a full agent, then that standing kill order would more than likely be lifted. The NSA or CIA wouldn't sanction one of their own when they still offered a benefit to the country.

If she were to bring Bartowski into the fold, there was little doubt that he'd jump on board with the idea. He was so wrapped up in the Intersect he'd be willing to do anything to save her life. Of course, it would be a huge risk reading him in on the standing termination order. But in any case, it would still be months, if not years before the new system came online. There was still plenty of time to make that decision. But for now, an important first step had been taken. Sarah had proven that she trusted Forrest, and the female agent wasn't going to let that trust to have been given in vain.

She watched on proudly as he pupil squeezed off ten consecutive shots with confidence. When the target was brought forward, all ten had hit their mark almost perfectly. "Okay, I'll admit that I see the appeal in this now," Sarah said while taking off her protective equipment.

"I thought you might. Now come on, we have to report in and we don't want to keep the General waiting, Annie Oakley."

* * *

**Inside the safe house  
Briefing**

"I know you're a man down on this one Forrest, but the CIPHER is too important to let that stand in the way. You'll have to find a way to pull this one out on your own." It was nice not to have Graham butting in on a mission briefing for once. That said, protecting the asset and carrying out a mission would certainly not be easy.

"What about the asset, sir?"

"Take her with you. The Intersect may provide intelligence that could assist you on the mission. If everything goes well, it should be an in and out job." Now the mission had gone from difficult to disturbing. Ordinarily, there would be no way the General would authorize use of the Intersect on a mission with limited security. Forrest decided to find out just what this "CIPHER" was.

"General, if you don't mind me asking, what is the CIPHER?"

"The CIPHER is the brain of the new Intersect computer." A succinct answer that felt like a kick to the gut to the NSA agent. Not fifteen minutes before, she had been planning a way to get the asset out of this mess alive, but if the construction of the new Intersect was this close to completion…

"Wait, the _new_ Intersect? What are you doing to do with the _old_ Intersect?" Sarah seemed worried, and with good reason, as Forrest knew. When that new computer when lights on, the order would come to put Walker's lights out.

"When the new Intersect is online, you'll be done with us Ms. Walker. No more missions; no more spies. You'll have your life back, Sarah." _You'll have your life back as long as you're kept alive, which won't be long. Damn and I really thought I'd be able to save her, too. _"Now if you'll excuse us, Ms. Walker, I need to talk to Agent Forrest in private for a moment."

Sarah walked from the room with a smile on her face; no doubt she was thinking about regaining her freedom. Forrest had never felt bad about a termination order before, but the one she knew was coming was eating her up inside. This girl was an innocent, and had done a damn fine service to her country without as much as a thank you.

When the blonde had cleared the room, General Casey continued. "Agent Forrest, I assume you know what the recovery of the CIPHER means?"

"Yes General," Forrest replied in a defeated tone.

"Is there a problem, Forrest?"

"No, General…well…" she paused as she debated with herself whether or not now was the time to state her argument for the life of the asset. Deciding that it may serve the purpose better after the CIPHER was actually recovered, she balked at doing so at the moment. "Nothing General. I understand my orders."

"Alright then, Agent Forrest, that will be all for now." If Forrest wasn't mistaken, she could almost sense that General Casey was upset by the need for the orders as well. Maybe all hope for keeping the girl alive wasn't lost.

* * *

**Hoboken, New Jersey  
December 10, 2007**

The surveillance of the transfer of the CIPHER had triggered a flash for Sarah that had led the asset, the agent, and the special ops unit assigned to assist them to an abandoned warehouse in Hoboken. Sarah quietly wondered for what must have been the hundredth time why the bad guys always seemed to set up shop in such obvious places. She reasoned that crime and domestic threats to the country could be cut more than in half by just going around and knocking down all abandoned warehouses. She kind of wished Chuck had been there to hear her witty observation. _Who am I kidding; I wish he was here in general_.

It wasn't that it had been torture living with Forrest over the past few days. In fact, it had been much more pleasant than Sarah could have ever imagined. Still, when it came to missions, it just didn't feel right without Chuck here. While Forrest would do everything in her power to protect the Intersect within the parameters of the mission, it was Chuck that Sarah felt like would protect _her_ above all else. But there was no use dwelling on the issue. It was Forrest that was here, and that would have to do for now.

Sarah watched on the monitors as the unit made their way into the building. They cleared the first room and there was no sign of the gang that held the CIPHER. In the second room, things were also clear. They were making their way back to the final room in the building, when Sarah saw movement from the back of the structure. A large, imposing man that she recognized as the group's leader from her earlier flash was making his way as stealthily as a 6'8 muscle-bound behemoth could. He seemed to be going toward the fire escape of the next building over. By the time the team made it out of the building and could pursue him, it would most likely be too late, and the CIPHER would be gone.

Making a snap decision, Sarah grabbed the spare Sig Sauer she knew Forrest kept in the glove compartment, tucked it into the waistband of her jeans, and began a pursuit of suspect. As she ran, the voice of her handler came over the communication link on her watch.

"Walker, everything's clear in here. I think the intel you gave us was wrong."

"It wasn't wrong, we were just too late. The guy is escaping with the CIPHER. I'm in pursuit." Sarah was becoming winded from the sprint across the parking lot and her words were slightly broken, but Forrest heard enough to send her into a rage.

"Walker, you will break off pursuit now! You don't know-" Sarah terminated the communication. It was distracting her from her chase. The General had been clear how important this CIPHER was. In fact, it was even more important to her. Getting this thing back was the only way to get her life back. She had no choice but to go all out. Her future depended on it.

She flew up the fire escape the large man had ascended only moments before. When she got to the roof, he had his back turned to her and was placing a call. Sarah was thankful she had the extra moment to calm her nerves. Pulling the gun she had stashed away, she put on the most authoritative tone of voice she could muster. "Freeze!"

The man turned around with a small look of worry on his face. That expression quickly turned into a predatory grin as he took in the appearance of his would be arrester. _A little blonde girl in jeans and a t-shirt. This should be fun._ He laughed at the woman that was clearly not an agent. And from the way her hands were shaking, she was clearly not comfortable holding that gun either. He approached her slowly. Comfortable or not, he didn't want to force her hand.

As the man approached her, a myriad of possible solutions began to run through Sarah's head. She knew she couldn't stomach killing someone again…not to defend herself. Then it came to her. She steadied her hand and aimed at the feet of the giant. Squeezing the trigger, she drew his attention to the ground as he skipped away from the shot. Unfortunately for him, that moment of distraction was just what Sarah was hoping for. Before he could lift his head back up to gloat over how poorly the shot had been missed, Sarah's leg swung upward in a swift thrust, implanting her foot in the man's groin. He dropped immediately to his knees, holding onto the injured area.

Pressing the gun into the neck of the felled bad guy, Sarah's confident voice was back. "Give me the CIPHER. Now!" As he reached into his pocket to retrieve the device, footsteps could be heard approaching them.

"This is the part where you put your weapon down," Colt said. His normal deep baritone voice rendered almost squeaky by Sarah's attack. Any intimidation that occurrence had stripped from him, however, was made up tenfold by the eight men that were surrounding Sarah and the automatic weapons they held that were now trained on her.

"Shit!" Sarah barked out as she slowly put the gun on the ground in front of her and held her hands up. The defeat she felt was quickly washed away when a very familiar voice appeared as if from nowhere.

"How about everyone put their weapons down and get those hands in the air," bellowed Agent Forrest. Seeing just how outnumbered they were by the large unit Forrest had led to the top of the building, the gang complied with her order. Sarah reached into the pocket of the group's leader and snatched the CIPHER away, holding it up proudly for Forrest to see.

It was a bittersweet moment for the agent. She was so proud of her asset for what she'd been able to accomplish. Without Sarah's fast thinking, the third party group would have been able to pass the CIPHER off to Fulcrum and all would be lost. On the other hand, by regaining possession of the CIPHER, Sarah had sealed her own fate once the new Intersect computer was up and running. _Dammit to hell!

* * *

_

**Sarah and Forrest's Apartment Building  
West Village, New York  
October 11, 2007**

"So you're getting your life back. What is Sarah Walker going to do with it?" Sarah had been happy that Chuck had finally returned from his mission. She had missed being around him; she'd missed their friendly banter; most of all, she'd missed his smile. That smile that he was wearing at that moment; the one that made her feel like the most important person in the world.

"I honestly don't know, Chuck. I guess for now, I go back to work-"

"Sarah…don't take this the wrong way, but you are so much more than that place. You can do anything, you're Sarah."

"Okay, Chuck," she said blushing.

"What? You can. I've seen you in action. Anything you want you could have. You just have to decide what it is that you want." She knew by the way he was looking at her that he meant every word that he'd said. But there, standing in front of him, there was only one thing that she could think of that she wanted.

"How about _you_ take me on a proper date?" Chuck was taken aback by her forwardness. It was so unlike her to make that kind of move, but given what he'd just told her, it made a lot of sense in a way. And now that the new Intersect was going to be coming online, she wasn't really his asset anymore. And he could admit to himself that this was something that he wanted too. Next week, he could be sent God knows where. He deserved one more night of fun. No, _they_ deserved one more night of fun together.

"Well, alright…but I think it only right that I ask you. Sarah, would you like to go on a _real_ date with me?" She smiled and plastered a look of mock surprise on her face.

"Why, Chuck Bartowski, I thought you'd never ask," she said with affect.

"Tonight then?" he asked.

"Tonight," she replied.

* * *

**Forrest's Apartment  
Later that night**

"General, I understand, but Sarah Walker has served her country with honor!"

Casey sighed. "You're right Forrest, she has. And she's done a damn fine job of it. But we have no way to ensure her safety. We have no way to extract those secrets from her head. If she is allowed to walk the streets of New York, she will almost certainly be captured and tortured for the information she has. Sarah Walker has served her country with honor, and now she must die to protect it."

Forrest bowed her head in defeat. "Understood, General."

The NSA agent began preparing for the first termination order she'd ever regret. Sarah was out with Bartowski at the time. They'd both be distracted when they came back, and it would be the perfect time to execute the order. For now, Alex would have to sit and wait for the time to come.

* * *

**General Casey's Office  
Ft. Meade, Maryland  
December 11, 2007**

The secure line on the Casey's desk rang. It was more than likely Graham calling to confirm that the new computer was online. Picking it up, he was instead greeted with much more troubling news. The new Intersect had _not_ been a success. The CIPHER that had been retrieved the day previous was a trap set by Fulcrum. When the computer was brought online, it exploded, killing Graham and the agents he had with him. This was very bad. First things first, he had to stop the termination order. He activated the link to reconnect with Forrest.

"Agent Forrest." The woman looked up to see her superior that had reappeared. She hoped that maybe he'd changed his mind. "The new Intersect was a failure. You are to abort plans to eliminate Walker. Repeat, you are not to terminate the Intersect. Where is the asset right now?"

"She went out to celebrate her freedom with Bartowski. Should I call them?" Surprise and relief were evident in the agent's voice. Casey didn't fail to notice it. He'd long figured out that Bartowski had been compromised with the Intersect. He was quite surprised, however, that the blonde had been able to get to his most ruthless killer. Clearly though, Forrest couldn't be trusted with the next step in what needed to happen. It was unfortunate that both agents would have to be kept in the dark with this operation, but it was going to be necessary.

"That won't be necessary Agent Forrest. When they return from their…night out, just inform them of what has happened. That will be all."

As he disconnected the communication again, General Casey picked up his secure line and placed a call to his unit leader in the New York area.

"Colonel Simon, this is General John Casey. We have a situation. Yes Colonel, it is time to execute the Moab Project."

* * *

_**A/N: **__Moab Project? First of all…yes, we ARE going back to Moab. It is, after all, a Chuck fanfic. Second…who picked up on the way the General worded that? When I said I was doing a Sarahverse, I never said that I would only take from events in canon…just saying. Anyway, thank you guys so much for reading. It really is a pleasure to write for you fine people, and I look forward to all of your great feedback. Oh, and for those that said the last chapter was too short, this one is just for you. This is far and away the longest chapter in this fic…and one of the longer chapters I've ever written for anything, really. Thanks again, and you guys are awesome. Peace._


	12. Chapter 12

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Chuck…obviously. They make you wait ten months for their next update. I made you wait less than 48 hours. Maybe you should hope for me to get the rights…just saying._

_**A/N: **__Wow, that didn't take long did it? I haven't updated like this since the Bryce and Jill days. But this tends to happen when I focus on one piece. For right now, I expect that the chapters will be a little shorter, but will come in more rapid progression, so it should make up for it, hopefully. Anyway, thank you everyone that took the time to review chapter 11. Really, really appreciate it. I'm sorry I didn't get to reply to many of them, because I wanted to get right to work on this chapter, and I figured you'd forgive me if I got this one out quickly. At least I hope you do. A big, big thank you to __**sm93starbuck, kroblues, and Yokaputo**__ for listening to my insane ideas and helping me come up with what I have now. Thanks to Coffee also for the beta, so she did double duty on this one. And last but certainly, certainly not least, thank you to Notorious JMG for the inspiration for this arc. What does that mean? Well, read and find out, silly. Alright, now please enjoy __**Sarah vs. the Alternate Universe chapter 12**__!

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_**Special A/N: **__Points to whoever can tell me what the name of the restaurant Chuck and Sarah eat at is a reference to.

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**Cast in order of appearance**

Sarah Walker……..Yvonne Strahovski  
Chuck Bartowski…………..Zachary Levi  
Ellie Carmichael……..…Sarah Lancaster  
Devon Walker…………...Ryan McPartlin  
Alex Forrest………………………Tricia Helfer  
Big Mike…….Mark Christophe Lawrence  
Anna Wu………………………….…..Julia Ling  
NYPD Detective……….…Joshua Jackson

* * *

**Javu  
New York, New York  
December 11, 2007**

"Chuck, this place is…how did you get us in on such short notice?" Sarah was genuinely impressed. So far, Chuck had exceeded even the high expectations Sarah had held for the first real date. He was certainly a charmer, and if everything continued on the path it was headed, she was almost positive where the night would end. Needless to say that the suit that he looked so good in would no longer be required. She giggled slightly at her less than pure thoughts.

"What's so funny?" Chuck asked. Sarah blushed and bowed her head at his question. He decided to bail her out and save her from divulging whatever it was that was embarrassing her. "But to answer your question, I may have called in a few favors. You'd be surprised what some people would do for the CIA's top operative."

"I wouldn't say I'd be surprised. You're a special man, Charles Bartowski. Even more so than you realize, I think." Voicing such emotional opinions and talking about her feelings in general had never been a strength for the blonde. Especially since their parents left, she'd been much more cautious to keep those things to herself. Something about Chuck however made her want to open up. She'd never really met anyone like him.

"You're not so bad yourself, Sarah." He smiled shyly at her.

"Oh yeah, I'm amazing," she snorted.

"Yeah, you are," he replied softly. Their gazes met, and it was all they could do not to jump one another in that upscale restaurant. Sarah realized that she was falling somehow even more in love with her former CIA handler. Chuck was finally admitting to himself just how far gone he was over his former asset. _Of course, it doesn't matter if I do love her. Tomorrow I'll be ordered back to Langley and I'll be briefed on my new assignment. I'll be on a plane to who knows where before she even wakes up, and we'll never see each other again. _He silently admonished himself for such thoughts. True as they may be, that night was supposed to be about them having fun with one another, not worrying about what tomorrow held.

"So, shall we head to our next destination?" Chuck asked. It was time to press on with this night he had planned to hopefully give Sarah a night she'd never forget; and give her what he hoped would be a good memory of him when he was gone.

"Next destination?" she asked. "You mean to tell me that there is more? Chuck, this is too much. You didn't have to-"

"I didn't _have_ to," he interrupted. "I wanted to. Tonight is all about you, Sarah Lisa Walker." He then smiled that smile that made her heart melt. But for a nagging question that was burning to be asked, she would have felt better than she had in years, or maybe ever.

As they left the restaurant and made their way down the street, Chuck held her close, protecting her from the cold winter air. She looked up into his eyes –those deep, beautiful brown eyes- and resolved to finally get an answer to her query, whatever the answer might be.

"So, what happens next? Will I know where you're off to?" Sarah asked softly. She feared that she already knew what he would say.

"I don't even know yet, but when I leave, I'll be given a new cover, a new mission, and I'll probably be sent as far away from New York as possible," he said sadly.

"Maybe they should keep you here. I mean I still have a lot of secrets in my head," she said as they arrived at Mark's Bar. "All kinds of things that I'm sure the government doesn't want getting out."

"What are you saying Sarah?" Chuck asked softly.

"What I've always wanted to say, Chuck," she responded slyly. Sarah craned her neck upward as Chuck leaned down into her. As their lips melded together softly, and their tongues began to intertwine in front of the lounge, the world around them seemed to cease to exist.

So lost were they in one another that neither of them noticed the doorman pull a tranquilizer gun from the inside of his jacket. Nor did they notice the large tactical team slowly creeping in on their position. Sarah opened her eyes briefly and started to flash on the doorman. Before she could say anything, however, and before Chuck could notice, the world went from non-existent to black.

* * *

**Casa Walker  
West Village, New York  
December 12, 2007**

"Honey, did Sarah not come home last night?" Ellie knew she was being a little overprotective, but it just wasn't like her boyfriend's sister to not at least call if she was going to be gone for the night. Not that she'd been "gone for the night" much, at least not before Chuck came along. He had been so good for her. Sarah had come out of her shell so much since the new man walked into her life. That made Ellie happy. Still, the lack of communication from the woman that would hopefully one day be her sister in law had the brunette a little worried.

"She's not in her room, babe. She was out with Chuck last night though. I would think she just stayed with him." Devon pulled Ellie away from the stove as he came into the kitchen, wrapping her in a tight embrace and kissing the top of her head. She didn't melt into his touch like she normally did, however.

"No, I called both Sarah _and_ Chuck and I got no answer from either. Sarah's went straight to voicemail. I also haven't been able to get in touch with Anna, but she's most likely at work. Maybe you should try calling her. You know how she's always had a thing for you. Normally, I don't like to think about it, but this time it could work to our advantage. I mean if she thinks it's you calling-"

"Woah, calm down babe. I'm sure it's fine. They're probably just occupied. A little morning coffee," he said kissing Ellie again.

"Gross Devon! That's your sister. You really have no sense of boundaries do you?" Devon shrugged his shoulders in reply. "Fine, whatever. I'm calling Alex to see if she heard anything."

"That's probably not a bad idea, Ellie."

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**Pharmgreens  
Greenwich Village, New York  
December 12, 2007**

Forrest loathed having to come back to the Pharmgreens, but protecting the nation's most important intelligence asset had to come with a cost. Despite how much she hated the store, and more importantly the idiots that worked there; having to come back at least meant that Walker's termination order had been cancelled. The agent was surprised not to see the asset there that morning. She was certainly scheduled to be in. _Maybe the long night out with Agent Lover Boy put her on the shelf for today, _Forrest reasoned. _Ah well, let them have their one night and morning before it's back to the salt mines._

Out of the corner of her eye, Alex saw the approaching form of the rotund general manager of the store. She really didn't like Big Mike. The man was lazy, incompetent, and undisciplined. There was nothing she could see _to_ like about the corpulent leader of the pharmacy. _Well, he's the leader in name only. Truthfully this place would go to hell without Walker._

"Forrest, Wu," shouted the big man as he approached. "Where the hell is Walker this morning? It ain't like her to not show up and not call." This put the agent on alert. It wasn't just not like Sarah to no call, no show; it was something that would never happen. The kid was anything but inconsiderate.

"I don't know, boss. She hasn't called me and I can't get her to answer." _Okay, if she hasn't called Wu and won't answer her phone, that's strike two._ As soon as Forrest had that thought, her phone began to vibrate. Looking at the ID, it was from Devon. _Maybe he'll have some answers._

"Hello."

"Alex, this is Devon. Say, you haven't heard from Sarah or Chuck have you? Because we haven't been able to reach either of them." _Okay, there's strike three. There's no way Walker wouldn't tell Devon and Ellie where she was_.

"I haven't heard anything Devon, and she's not at work, but I'll keep you posted."

"Thanks Alex. Ellie's just freaking out, because…well, you've met Ellie. We'll talk to you later."

As the call ended, Forrest immediately dialed Chuck's number. After six rings, the call went to voicemail. She hung up and dialed Sarah. Five more rings before the call was finally picked up.

"Uhhh," said Bartowski, clearly just waking up.

"Bartowski! What the hell is going on and where is the asset?" asked Forrest in a hushed but forceful tone.

"Forrest? Huh? I dunno," he was still struggling to get his words out.

"What's wrong with you?"

"I don't know…hangover I guess." He rubbed his face as if he could wipe away the headache and numbness he felt. _Wait, numbness? That's not a hangover. And Sarah's missing? Oh shit. _"Wait, you don't know where Sarah is? She's not with me! I'm at my place. And I feel like shit. Come pick me up, something's not right." His voice was still groggy, but clearly some panic had worked its way in.

"I'll be right over. You want to call the superiors, or should I?"

"No! Don't call them yet."

"Walker's missing and you don't want to inform our bosses?" asked Forrest incredulously.

"Alex, they might have something to do with it. The new Intersect coming online last night and everything." Even with the new computer not working, Forrest new Bartowski had a point. It would be well within their scope to try something like this. It even made sense on some level. But why wouldn't they let the agents know about it?

"Yeah, that's a fair point, Bartowski. I'll be over in a few minutes."

* * *

**Casa Walker  
West Village, New York  
December 12, 2007**

When Forrest and Chuck finally got back over to the Walker apartment, the NYPD was already there. The door was open and a few officers were going in and out. Another was questioning Devon who was holding a crying Ellie in his arms.

"Shit. This is not good," Chuck muttered under his breath. Forrest nodded in quiet agreement. Ellie saw the two agents walk into the room.

"Chuck, thank God you're here." The doctor took in his appearance and stepped back slightly. "You look horrible. What's wrong?"

"Umm, thanks El, I guess. Long night. I have a bit of a hangover." His vision was too blurry to see the scrupulous looks being cast on him by the two doctors. Nothing seemed quite right. It was almost like he was looking into one of those fun house mirrors. Then, he felt the rumble in his stomach as nausea washed over him. He made it to the garbage can in the kitchen before emptying the contents of his digestive system. Then his knees gave way, and Chuck passed out.

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**Location Unknown  
Date Unknown**

Sarah shot up in her bed. Only _this_ wasn't her bed. It was quite comfortable, and the thread count of the sheets seemed as if they must be astronomical, but it wasn't hers. Then she took in her surroundings. White. Everything was white. The walls, the carpet, the ceiling, the door, the furniture, and even the electronics were white.

_Oh, please tell me I'm not_, she thought to herself. But the evidence was far too overwhelming to even complete the thought. "Son of a bitch!" she shouted. Just as she said this, the screen on the television flickered to life and the countenance of General John Casey appeared.

"Good morning, Ms. Walker. I trust you slept well."

"Speak of the fucking Devil. Yeah, I slept like a log, General. You know how warm and cozy a government sanctioned kidnapping can make one feel," she said.

"I _am_ sorry you had to be brought here in such a manner, but extracting you proved to be more difficult than we'd planned. Four of my agents were seriously wounded by Agent Bartowski while attempting to take you."

"Ha," Sarah barked. "Serves them right. Listen, I appreciate the nice digs and all, but really, I'd like to go home now, please. So if you and Graham…since I'm sure he was behind this as well. If you guys could just show me to the door, it would be great."

"Director Graham won't be joining us, I'm afraid," said Casey.

"Oh, decided to take the project on yourself did you? I like a man in charge, General. But you got the CIPHER; you have your new Intersect. Why can't I go?"

"The new Intersect was a failure I'm afraid." Sarah's shoulders slumped in defeat. _So that's why they still want me. But why couldn't I stay out there like I was? I was doing just fine. _Her answer was on the way in the form of more surprising news. "The CIPHER you an Agent Forrest retrieved was a Trojan Horse, given to us by Fulcrum. When the new computer went online, it exploded, taking Graham with it."

"Wait, Graham's dead?"

"This is a serious situation we have on our hands, Sarah. I didn't take decision to bring you in lightly. With Graham gone, and the new Intersect destroyed, your protection has never been more important. And the agents we had protecting you didn't seem as though they were up to the task anymore."

"Chuck and Forrest do a great job keeping me safe! There is no way I would have survived this long without them." The blonde was outraged that her friends would be put down like that. They were both true professionals, and were great at their jobs.

"That's very true, Ms. Walker. That said, I have to do what I feel is in the best interest of the country, and right now, that entails keeping you in protective custody."

"What about my friends and family? What did you tell them? What did you tell Chuck?" Panic had begun to set in for the human Intersect. Her own freedom had been her only concern before, and for that she now felt guilty. What would they tell Devon? Would they tell him that his little sister was dead? And she was with Chuck. Would they try to frame him for her fake murder? This was too much.

"So far they've been told nothing. They've taken Agent Bartowski to the hospital-"

"The hospital?!" Sarah questioned. "Why is he in the hospital? What did you mother fuckers do to him! I swear, if you hurt Chuck, I'll never tell you one Goddamn secret that pops up in my head from your precious Intersect."

"You need to calm down, Walker. He merely had an adverse reaction to the sedatives he was injected with. Or perhaps it was the amount. We're not sure. It took five shots to subdue him. He's quite protective of you, Ms. Walker."

Sarah stewed over what she'd been told. Chuck' safety hadn't been taken into account at all. He was injured and hospitalized because of the same government that he'd served to the best of his ability. And worst of all, he'd been attacked for trying to defend _her_, which really was his job.

"Okay, then if he's so protective of me, then why the hell did I need to be brought here."

"He's protective of you, Intersect, but even he couldn't fend off the twenty person team that we sent to capture you. What makes you think he could stop a similar team of Fulcrum agents? Now, I have important matters to attend to, so for now, just try to make yourself at home."

_Make myself at home?_ The words stung her. She was trapped in some underground bunker in God knows where. She was pretty sure it was December 12th, but she wasn't sure, and she'd never see her family again. She'd never see her friends again. She'd never see Chuck again. Sarah curled up on her bed and began to rock back and forth as she cried herself to sleep.

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**NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital  
New York, New York  
December 12, 2007**

Chuck awoke with a start and quickly took in his surroundings. It was quite clear that he was in a hospital. Forrest was sitting near the window, and Ellie and Devon were standing near the wall. _But where's Sarah_. Then the events of the morning came flooding back to him. Sarah was gone, he'd been poisoned or something, and now he was in a hospital. How'd he gotten here was still a mystery.

"What happened," he groaned.

"You passed out, bro," Devon supplied. "I don't think you had a hangover last night. The doctors here are still going through your lab work, but we're pretty sure you were poisoned."

"Poisoned, why would I have been poisoned," Chuck said trying to play the suggestion off as ridiculous. He still didn't want to blow his cover.

"More than likely so that someone could abduct Ms. Walker. Mr. Bartowski, when you have moment, we'd like to speak with you," said the NYPD detective as he walked in the door to the hospital room. Forrest quickly got up from her seat and crossed the room to speak to the detective. She said something in a very hushed tone that no one else in the room could hear. When she was done, the cop's eyes got very wide, and he looked at the rest of the collected. "But, I'm sure that can wait. I'll be in touch, and I'll make sure to let you know the second we hear anything about your sister, Dr. Walker," said the detective as he quickly left the room.

As soon as the room was clear, Dr. Ellie Carmichael crossed her arms and turned to the two occupants of the room that were not her boyfriend. "Okay, I think we should go back to your original question, Chuck. What's going on?" Both Chuck and Forrest looked at her with a confused expression. "Don't give me that look. What the hell is going on, and who the hell are you two? I think it has been made abundantly clear that everything is not as it seems here. So, I'll ask again. Who are you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," stated Forrest calmly.

"Save it Forrest, they deserve the truth." Forrest looked trying to will him with her eyes not to broach this topic. He ignored her silent command. "Devon…Ellie, this all started a few months ago. September 24th, to be exact…"

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_**A/N: **__Alright, now does it seem a little familiar? I should hope so. If it doesn't, then you have done yourself a disservice by not reading JMG's Bright Sideverse. So go do that right now. Go on, get. And don't forget to review it when you read it. Speaking of reviewing…before you get…if you could find it in your heart to let me know what you thought of this chapter, I'd be ever so grateful. I really would. Alright, enough begging from me. I look forward to your feedback, and you guys are awesome. Peace._**  
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	13. Chapter 13

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Chuck anymore today than I did yesterday…which was not at all. Maybe someday I will, but I wouldn't bet on it._

_**A/N: **__Thank you to everyone who took the time to read and review chapter 12. I'm really feeling in the writing mood lately, and I come to you with yet another quick update. This one in just over 24 hours. Pretty soon, I might be turning out multiple chapters in a day, which would be almost expected, seeing as where I drew the inspiration for this arc. Most of you caught on, but in case you didn't, the current arc is not based on anything that happened in canon, but instead is sort of the Sarahverse version of JMG's Star Spangled Intersect. I've tried to make sure I put my own twist on it, however. I want this to work as a tribute to the Bright Sideverse; I don't want JMG to feel like I'm just straight ripping him off. Okay, moving on, a very big thank you to __**Verkisto aka OC **__for giving me a beta on this chapter. This thing would have been a wreck without her help. Also, thanks as always go to __**Yokaputo**__ for the brainstorming session she sat through this morning with me. She sacrificed her own sleep, so that you guys could get this update and have it be better. That's just one more example of how awesome she is. Alright, enough with the long winded speech. I look forward to your feedback, and I hope you enjoy __**Sarah vs. the Alternate Universe chapter 13**__.

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**Cast in order of appearance**

General John Casey……Adam Baldwin  
Devon Walker……Ryan McPartlin  
Chuck Bartowski….Zachary Levi  
Ellie Carmichael……Sarah Lancaster  
Alex Forrest……..Tricia Helfer  
Sarah Walker……Yvonne Strahovski  
Jill Roberts…….Jordana Brewster

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**NSA Headquarters  
Ft. Meade, Maryland  
December 12, 2007**

This was not the type of thing General John Casey signed up for when he enrolled at West Point all those years ago. Duty. Honor. Country. Those were the ideals he held as the standard for what his life should be. Those three principles did not include violating the constitutional rights of an American citizen. He certainly didn't want to take those rights away from a person like Sarah Walker. Much to his surprise, the woman had performed above and beyond all expectations in her role as the Intersect. The Intelligence community had flipped her world on its ear, and she'd come up money time and time again.

But this wasn't his call. The CIA still had the deciding voice on the Intersect project, and Graham had used that advantage routinely over the past several months. Before his death, he'd been able to bend the ear of the Director of National Intelligence, General Diane Beckman, and put into play a firm contingency plan for extraction.

When the new Intersect had been destroyed, taking Graham with it, Beckman had immediately put in the order for General Casey to put the plan into action. At the end of the day, she was still his boss. He didn't have to like the orders, but it was his job to get them done. Of course he could have resigned his post rather than carry out the illegal and immoral plans, but his successor would have only done what he'd refused to do. And he couldn't walk out on his country, regardless of how distasteful he found his position at the moment.

He sighed, looking at the picture of his hero he kept on his desk. "What would you do, Mr. President? I wish you were here to give advice," he spoke into the picture of Ronald Reagan.

Well, there was nothing for it. As he'd taken the good, he'd have to take the bad. He only hoped his two very compromised agents in New York didn't try anything stupid. Although if anyone could manage to get Walker out of lockup it would be Forrest and Bartowski. They weren't labeled as the best for no reason. He wouldn't be able to lend them support, but if they were dumb enough to try it –and he was quite sure that Bartowski was- and were successful, Casey would do everything in his power to make sure everything was smoothed over. Bush still owed him a couple of favors, and he'd gladly call them in if need be.

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**NYPH  
New York, New York  
December 12, 2007**

"But why was Sarah chosen?" Devon asked.

"Sarah has…a unique ability to process information. She's the only one in the world that we know of that can do what she does. And because of her, a lot of good has been done. A lot of lives have been saved." Chuck paused in his explanation and looked down at his hands. "Sarah's a hero. You should be really, really proud of your sister. And you should know that she never wanted to lie to you; she only did it for your protection."

"Okay, so that explains that. Now, if you could tell us who took Sarah, and why –it being your job and all- you didn't stop them." Ellie had her arms folded across her chest as she glared daggers at the male agent in the hospital bed.

"The past few months have been really hard for Sarah. They've been hard for me too. As of last night, she was supposed to be done with this whole spy life. She was going to get her normal life back, and I wanted to celebrate that with her. I let my guard down, because I thought we could have one night to just be normal people." The man's face showed a deep sadness at his admission of the struggles he and Sarah had faced.

"You mean you wanted to finally be able to show how much you'd fallen for the asset," Forrest added.

"Wait, you _do_ like my sister. I knew you did. That's awesome," Devon said.

"Well…yeah, I do. But that's why she's missing right now. She's missing because I wasn't good enough at my job to look past my emotions and be alert in the situation. It's not awesome at all, Devon. You should be punching me in the face right now. I risked Sarah's life by being so careless, and now she's been kidnapped." The smile that had graced the face of the other man slowly slipped off. Surprisingly, at least to Chuck, he didn't look angry. He looked almost sympathetic.

"Dude, you didn't do that on purpose. Look, I don't care what your job is, you have a right to have feelings. They shouldn't ask you to not be human." Chuck paused before responding. When he did, his voice was very soft; it was almost too quiet to hear.

"I never had a problem not being human until I met Sarah. She made me a better person."

"Awesome," repeated Devon. His girlfriend, on the other hand, was not so easily pacified.

"That still doesn't tell us who took her," Ellie said. "Maybe we should get that little tidbit of information."

"We're not sure, Ellie. I still don't remember much of last night, but even if I did, things like that usually happen so quick it would have been hard to identify anyone. Sarah probably knew who took us because of the Int…because of her talents, but I wasn't able to ask her about it. If I had to guess, however, I would say that it was probably one of two groups. It was either a rogue agency called Fulcrum…"

"Or…" Ellie tapped her foot impatiently.

"Or it was the government," supplied Forrest, finally speaking up.

"The government? Why would the government take Sarah?" asked Devon.

"Okay, I'm coming completely clean with you guys, because you need to know. Sarah has a supercomputer called the Intersect stuck in her head-"

"Bartowski!" Forrest said with warning. He ignored her.

"All of the secrets of the entire intelligence community are in that computer. She is the only one who has access to them and the only one that _can_ access them. She didn't ask for any of this, but it is possible that our bosses decided that it was too dangerous to have her out and about with all of those secrets. In fact, I was expecting them, when the new computer was supposed to come online last night, to send out a termination order to Forrest here."

The collective room gasped. Ellie and Devon were horrified at the thought that their government would be so cruel. Forrest couldn't believe that Bartowski had figured it out or that he would share that with civilians. Of course if it _was_ the government that had Sarah, Forrest had little doubt her partner would quickly turn into a rogue agent to get the girl out. Forrest herself would seriously consider it.

"Since I didn't hear anything from Alex, I figured we were in the clear, so I didn't worry. I'm so sorry," Chuck said in a defeated tone.

"You're right, Bartowski," Forrest said in a much softer tone than usual. "They did have an order out. I was going to wait until you brought her home. I was going to make it real obvious to you. I wanted you to stop me. Sarah is an innocent, and she's done a damn fine job here. She didn't deserve to die; and I was willing to let you kill me to ensure her safety."

"Thank you Forrest," Chuck said. The NSA agent nodded solemnly in reply. "Okay," he continued. His voice was now much more resolute than before. "I need to get out of here, and we need to get to work on finding Sarah."

* * *

**Secure Government Facility  
Location Unknown  
December 12, 2007**

If it weren't such an intrusion on her personal freedom, and a burden on her friends and family, Sarah would appreciate the lodging they'd provided her. The room was spacious; the bed was comfortable, as was the couch; and she'd been given a lovely 60-ince flat screen with a premium digital cable package and a Blu Ray player. They'd even given her a brand new Macbook Pro. There was no internet, but the gesture was still nice, she supposed.

All of that goodwill, however, was largely in vain. No material gift or luxury could take away the hurt they'd caused by ripping her from her life. It was the second meal they'd brought her that day, and she still didn't have the stomach to touch it. Of course, she wasn't sure she'd find it appetizing even if she weren't feeling sick over what had transpired. Picking up a napkin from the tray and a pen from her nightstand, she began to jot down a note.

_To whom it may concern:  
I'm from New York, the city with  
the best restaurants in the United States.  
If you can't do better than this swill you're  
sending me, you may just be better off  
fitting me with a feeding tube. I'm  
not eating this garbage._

_-SLW_

She was rather proud of her work. If they were going to put her through hell, she was certainly going to be as bratty as humanly possible. She picked up the tray holding the food and proceeded to the bathroom, where she flushed all of the food down the toilet. _And now it's were it belongs,_ she thought. When she went back out into the main room, she lay the note down on the tray and grabbed three pencils from the work desk._ There are usually three guards when they bring me my food. I don't want to risk killing them, but they need to know how unhappy I am here._

She went and sat on the couch across the room and waited for the guards to return. Sure enough, thirty minutes later, they came back to get her tray. As the first man entered the room, she drew an imaginary target with her mind's eye and let fly the first pencil, as she had the letter opener that night over three months ago. It was a direct hit, and the agent now had a No. 2 Pencil embedded in the soft tissue just to the right of his patella. The other two guards entered, only to suffer the same fate.

"Oh, sorry about your knees there, guys. That looks like it really, really hurts. You should really be more careful where you walk," she said as she laughed contentedly to herself. "Oh, and when you find your way out, could you please make sure that note gets delivered to…well, whoever is in charge of the menu here, because it sucks."

* * *

**Forrest's Apartment  
West Village, New York  
December 12, 2007**

It was getting late and Chuck and Forrest had exhausted nearly every contact they had within the Intelligence Community. So far, everything had come up very empty. No one had a clue about a high-level abduction from any agency, government-related or otherwise, anywhere in the world. If it was Fulcrum however, Chuck had one more person he could call that he knew would be able to tell them beyond a shadow of a doubt where Sarah was. If it wasn't Fulcrum, the source would still have a better chance of knowing the blonde's location than anyone else. Forrest, however, was opposed to making that call.

"No way. No damn way. You are _not_ calling Jill fucking Roberts. You don't think she'd turn us in to the superiors in a heartbeat if it was them that authorized the kidnapping?"

Chuck sighed. "Listen, I know you don't like Jill-"

"No, I loathe Jill. Now continue."

"I know you _loathe_ Jill, but she's our best shot. And she would do anything she could to help Sarah. I know that she would." Chuck looked at his partner with pleading eyes, but the NSA agent wasn't ready to give in just yet.

"You know that, do you? Well, I see the evidence of your claim. She sure helped Walker when she got her kicked out of school and went and screwed her boyfriend. Then five years later, Jill came riding in on a white horse to help her again by putting that goddamn computer in Sarah's head. Yeah, you make an excellent point. I don't know how I could have argued with you," Forrest said sarcastically.

"Alex, please. We're running out of options here. Jill will help, I promise."

Forrest eyed Chuck suspiciously for another moment before finally agreeing. "Fine, do what you have to do. Just know that I don't like this one bit."

"I know," Chuck answered as he dialed a number that only he knew.

"Roberts, secure," was the answer.

"Bartowski, secure. Jill, we have a major situation on our hands here, and I think we might need your help."

"Yeah, I kind of figured I'd get a call from you today," said Jill.

"You did? So you know, then?" Chuck asked.

"Of course I know. Graham was my main contact. My only contact, really, inside the agency. I guess they want me reporting to General Beckman now at the DNI. I still have to get it all straight. How has it shaken things up where you guys are?"

"Wait…what the hell are you talking about, Jill? What's wrong with Graham?" This question piqued the interest of the other agent in the room with Chuck, and she came closer to see what she could learn.

"Graham's dead, didn't you hear? He got blown up with the new Intersect last night. That's why I thought you were calling. Wait, if you weren't calling about that, then why did you call me? Is there something wrong with Sarah?" Jill's voice had taken on a tone of panic. She was upset about Graham's death, to be sure, but if something had happened to her only real friend in the world, Jill didn't know what she'd do with herself. All of the sacrifice over the past five years would have been for nothing.

"Yeah…it did Jill. But I think you just answered our question for us. There's no way they wouldn't have told us about Graham's dying unless they thought it would tip us off that they were the ones who had taken her." Alex's eyes shot up after hearing Chuck's words. _So it was us! Why wouldn't the General tell us? At least she could have told me. Bartowski is clearly compromised, but why wouldn't he trust me? Well, if I had any doubt about helping get Walker out before, it's all done now. We're coming to get you Blondie._

"Taken her? What?! You have to be fucking kidding me! Jesus, I'll see if I can find anything out, Chuck. Shit, I can't believe they would do this. She's going to be so pissed."

"She who, Jill?" _Dammit, _Jill thought. _That wasn't supposed to slip out. Think of something fast Roberts!_

"Sarah, of course. Sarah's going to be pissed about being taken. I can't believe they would do this. I'm betting it was Beckman that was behind this. I don't trust that old bag."

"Yeah, me either. Listen, thanks Jill, and you know how to reach me if you hear anything. Bartowski out."

"Roberts out."

"Jill seems to think Beckman was behind all of this. I don't trust her either, but I'm guessing Graham had more than a little part to play in it," Chuck said, turning toward his partner.

"You don't think General Casey was involved?" Forrest asked.

"He was involved in that he was made to carry it out, but he'd never breach the Constitution like that, Forrest, and you know it. Casey is a hardass, but he's an honorable hardass. This had to come from higher up the food chain." Forrest nodded in agreement. If her boss was anything, he was by the book. This had to come from on high. And other than Bartowski, Forrest couldn't think of one person involved in the CIA that she'd trust with anything.

"So what's your plan now, Bartowski?" Alex asked.

"Now? For now, we go get some sleep. We have a visit to make tomorrow. And we might need to enlist a new recruit. We might need to make our team a little more…awesome."

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_**A/N: **__Thank you for reading guys. Like I said in the last chapter, these things might be a little shorter at times, but they should come out faster. Hopefully, that will make up for the difference. In any case, I certainly hope you enjoyed this chapter, and what I'm doing with this story in general. It has been really fun so far, and I think it will only get more so as I move along. Also, I thought I should clear something up for everyone. There will be a "season 2" of this universe after this arc. This is the "season 1" finale arc, but it's not the end. I'm still trying to decide if I want to add season 2 onto this story, or start a new story. I'd like to hear your opinions on the subject. Speaking of opinions, I would love to get a review from all of you guys. They don't take much time, and they really make my day. I look forward to hearing your feedback, and you guys are awesome. Peace. _


	14. Chapter 14

**_Disclaimer: _**_I don't own Chuck...and that's a good thing, because according to some, if Chuck and Sarah get together, it ends the show, and I'd do it right off the bat. _

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**_A/N: _**_Thanks everyone who read and reviewed chapter 13. I really had most of this done last night, but I wanted one more chance to look over it before posting, and I wanted to be fully awake as I wrote the last section. Hopefully you'll forgive me for the delay. I will try to get another chapter out today, but no promises. Anyway, I hope you like where the story is going right now. This chapter will again be a little shorter, but it would have read weird had I continued on much further. A big, big thank you to **Verkisto, kroblues, sm93starbuck, and Yokaputo **for the beta and/or reading over of this chapter for me as it progressed. You guys are amazing, and I really appreciate your support. And I appreciate the support of all of you readers, as well. I look forward to hearing your feedback on this chapter, and now please enjoy **Sarah vs. the Alternate Universe chapter 14. **_

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**Cast in order of appearance**

Devon Walker.....Ryan McPartlin  
Chuck Bartowski....Zachary Levi  
Alex Forrest.....Tricia Helfer  
General Beckman...Bonita Friedericy  
General Casey...Adam Baldwin  
Sarah Walker....Yvonne Strahovski  
Stacie Mangel....Summer Glau

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**Casa Walker  
West Village, New York  
December 13, 2007**

Ellie had been called in early that morning, and Devon was enjoying a nice big Ginseng shake. Under such stressful conditions, a man had to go to great lengths to keep his wang power at max thrust. Just as he was polishing off the "He-Man juice," as Sarah would call it, he heard a knock at the door. Thinking of his little sister brought back the fear he had for her safety and the sadness he felt for her absence. He tried to shake off the negative thoughts as he crossed the room to see who had come to call so early in the morning. _Come on Devon, the power of positive thinking. What would Mr. Tony Robbins say?_

His visions of the lanky motivational speaker quickly disappeared as he opened the door to greet the two federal agents that were tasked with Sarah's protection. He stepped aside to allow them entrance.

"Agents, how are you this morning?" Devon asked.

Chuck sighed. "You don't have to call us that, Devon. I'm still Chuck, and she's-well, Forrest, I guess. But it would be rather disingenuous to call us agents given the situation. It would really be inaccurate as well," he finished.

"How do you mean?" Devon's expression had turned to one of a guarded curiosity.

"He means that when we do what we're planning on doing, our agent days may very well be over. Hell, we'll be doing well to keep our asses out of Gitmo," answered Forrest as she strode towards the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator and retrieved a bottle of water.

"And just what are you planning on doing?" Devon asked. His head moved around as though it were on a swivel, looking from agent to agent…_well, I guess former agents._

"Well, there are plans for _us_—" Chuck put a strong emphasis on the last word "— to go to Washington today and find out exactly where they're keeping Sarah."

"Okay, man, two questions," Devon responded nervously. "First, are you sure that Sarah is-what makes you think that they didn't-you know-"

"Due to the current situation, it suits their purpose to have her alive," Forrest said, walking back into the room.

"Uh-huh," Devon said. He would be content to let further questions along that line rest for the moment. There was another issue he had that he felt needed to be addressed immediately. "And my second question," he began, stopping to swallow nervously, "what's this 'us' stuff about?"

"Devon, how bad do you want to get your sister back?" Chuck asked.

The doctor looked at him indignantly. "Worse than anything, Chuck. You know how much I love Sarah. There's nothing I wouldn't do for her."

"Then I'm going to ask you to do something for me."

"Name it, bro."

Chuck sighed, looking down. When he looked back to the slightly taller man, a small grin was starting to crease his face. "I need you to be awesome for me. Can you do that? Can you _be_…awesome?"

The worried expression that had been etched on Devon's face throughout most of the conversation began to fade, and the corners of his mouth began to turn up into a smile. "I got your back bro!" he shouted, raising his hand for a high-five. Chuck slowly raised his own hand to reciprocate the gesture; a forced smile was on his face. Forrest merely rolled her eyes.

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**DNI  
Washington, DC  
December 13, 2007**

"So let me get this straight, General Casey," began General Diane Beckman, Director of National Intelligence. "Since securing the asset, you have not been able to make contact with either of the agents that had been serving as handlers for her. These same agents, you believe to be compromised. So now we face the risk of two of our best operatives dropping off-grid and taking on a rogue assignment to free the Intersect?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Add to that the asset herself has managed to disable four of the onsite agents in charge of overseeing the secure facility, and now she has been restrained and refuses to talk."

"Yes ma'am."

"Oh, and the icing on the cake: Agent Roberts, the lone infiltrator behind Fulcrum lines, the one person that has been able to steer our enemies away from looking for the Intersect in Manhattan, has gone missing. The only clue to her location is an e-mail we were sent last night that seems to hint that she knew about the extraction and wasn't happy. Have I covered everything, General Casey?"

"Yes ma'am," he said for a third time.

"That is why I am taking this operation over, Casey. You are one of the best that has ever worked for me, but for whatever reason, this seems to be over your head. You are to return to Ft. Meade immediately and resume work on your other projects. The Intersect will now be dealt with only by my office, is that understood?"

"Understood General," Casey answered respectfully.

"Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a plane to catch."

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**Forrest's Apartment  
West Village, New York  
December 13, 2007**

"This will work, I know it will," Chuck said emphatically. "I did almost the exact same thing once in Pak…" He let his voice trail off as he realized there was a civilian presence still in the room. "I've done this before, let's leave it at that."

"And you think it will work here? This isn't some backwater, dirt poor terrorism sponsoring country, Bartowski. This is real. We've both been in the shit more times than we can count, but this is another level, and you know it."

Chuck nodded solemnly in agreement.

"That said, I trust you, partner. You're the best I've ever worked with, and if you say this will work then I believe you," finished Forrest. Her attention was immediately drawn away from the conversation, however as the television in her room blinked to life. She rushed to get the remote to close the feed but stopped suddenly. The face that popped up wasn't that of General Casey. It was…

"Sarah? Oh my God! Sarah!" cried OR exclaimed Chuck.

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**Secure Government Facility  
Undisclosed Location  
December 13, 2007**

The second full day in the hell hole that looked as though it would become her home had not started well. Sarah had been wakened before light had even begun to creep in through the double-paned bulletproof glass window in her cell. The agent who came to give her the daily report had learned from her companions the previous day and had come dressed in full body armor. Unfortunately for him, he hadn't anticipated the asset's ability to do damage to him with her body, and for that he had paid the price.

Sarah wasn't a morning person by nature. Added to that was the fact that she'd been forced into an underground bunker and taken away from everyone she loved, and, honestly, the man had scared the hell out of her. Altogether, it was a lethal combination for the man's most private region. When her eyes had snapped open, her fist shot out, reached past the lower edge of his body armor, and grabbed him by the balls. She yanked them in a hard downward thrust and began to twist. The agent was soon curled up in a ball on the floor, nearly in tears.

Since that point, she'd been strapped down as though she were Hannibal Lector. At least they'd had the decency to put the remote control to the television in her hand. On a more negative note, there didn't seem to be anything worth watching on at…whatever time it was. Then the television changed itself to something she certainly didn't want to see. An older woman in a military uniform with her red hair tied in a tight bun appeared on the screen. Sarah started to get that horrible tingling sensation.

_A dove  
Sealed records of accommodation  
General Diane Beckman, DNI  
A dove_

"Huh, General Beckman. So nice to finally meet you. You'll pardon me if I don't get up," said Sarah sardonically.

"The human Intersect. I trust you're enjoying your stay," replied Beckman with an equally harsh tone of sarcasm.

"Oh, it's absolutely terrific here. I love what you've done with the place. It's so colorful," she said still speaking as facetiously as possible. "Oh, and you can call me Sarah."

"I don't think I'll be doing that, Intersect," replied Beckman.

"Know what? This show is getting boring," Sarah said, pressing the channel up button on the remote. Instead of changing back to cable programming however, it seemed to be connecting her to another secure video feed. The room that she was looking into now looked more than a bit familiar. _That's Forrest's apartment!_

Then Sarah saw Forrest, then Chuck, then…_Devon?_ Chuck was the first to say something to her.

"Sarah? Oh, my God! Sarah!" He sounded relieved and pissed off and excited all at the same time.

"Hi, Chuck," she said weakly.

"Walker, do you know where you are?" asked Forrest.

"No clue. Sorry, guys. I woke up in this room and I can't really see out to identify anything. They haven't been exactly forthcoming with such information, I'm afraid. Devon! Hi! I love you, big brother," she shouted finishing her statement. She feared it might be the last time she got to talk to him and she was certainly going to take the opportunity for a proper goodbye, should that be the case.

"I love you too, little sister." Devon had to fight to keep the tears from his eyes. He couldn't break down in front of her, however. She needed to see that he was strong and give her faith. He had to be awesome.

"Sarah, why do they have you strapped down?" Chuck asked. He was determined to take the conversation back over. There were too many cooks in the kitchen at the moment.

"I…umm…I may have injured four of the agents that were guarding me here," she responded shyly.

"Ha, that's my girl," Forrest bellowed with a smirk.

"That's alright, Sarah, they got what was coming to them. Now, is there anything else you can tell us?"

"Well, I was just contacted by General Beckman, but I changed the channel and that's how I got you guys."

The wheels began turning in Chuck's head. If Beckman was contacting Sarah, it almost certainly meant that she had taken over the project herself. If Beckman was now in charge, it meant that he had been correct in assuming that the orders came from above General Casey. This would possibly make getting the information on Sarah's whereabouts easier. They may have a friend in a high place.

"Sarah, you just relax, okay? We're going to get you out of there. You still trust me, right?"

Sarah had to choke back a sob as she answered. "I always trust you, Chuck." Her answer both warmed his heart and caused him more pain from his failure to protect her when she was taken away. If he was resolved before, he was even more so now. Sarah _would_ be free if he had to be killed ensuring that outcome. _'Course, that ain't exactly plan 'A.' _He'd heard that in a movie once, and it certainly seemed to fit in this situation.

Before any more words could be exchanged, the screen went black. One of the geniuses had apparently figured out that the little unsanctioned conversation was going on.

"So what do we do now?" Devon asked. "Same plan?"

"No, we don't need that now. We just need to talk to General Casey. I have a feeling he'll want to chat," Chuck answered.

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**Manassas, VA  
December 13, 2007**

Whether or not Casey were willing to help them, it would have been too risky to chance contacting him directly. Fortunately, Forrest was very familiar with the man and his dealings. It paid to know your superiors, and Alex was nothing if not thorough.

Chuck had been somewhat surprised to learn about the General's secret obsession. The CIA agent thought that he was most likely the only person in their line of work with that particular vice. But Forrest's assessment had been exactly right. The best way to contact General Casey under the radar had been online game play. _Who would have thought that the head of the NSA was a Halo fan?_

The chatting had been brief, and certainly coded, but there had certainly been progress toward finding what needed to be found out. He'd let it be known that he couldn't tell them where Sarah was but had confirmed that Beckman had taken over the operation. Casey had then arranged for a drop-off of Beckman's travel plans. That was a safe enough way to get them the information. Once everything was confirmed and set up, Chuck fragged the General's hack gamer ass.

The drop-off had led them to Manassas, and a small airfield called the Whitman Strip. It was there they met a pilot named Stacie Mangel, who had been given directions to fly them wherever it was they needed to go. Upon meeting her, they learned that they needed to go to Moab, Utah. There was a small secure facility there that was serving to hold Sarah.

Devon was excited. He'd never been to Moab before, although he'd heard it was lovely. Forrest was angry. It was the way she prepared herself for battle. Chuck was focused and intense. This was the most important mission of his life, and he didn't consider failure an option. _Just hold on, Sarah. I'm coming, _he thought.

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**_A/N: _**_Thank you all so much for taking a few minutes to read this chapter. It really makes it fun to write when you know that people are reading and enjoying it. So what is the best way to let me know you're enjoying it, you say? Well leaving me a review, of course! I look forward to hearing your feedback, and you guys are awesome. Peace._


	15. Chapter 15

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Chuck…not that you'd get the impression that I do. I mean honestly, would any of the stuff I've written actually happen on Chuck? I don't really think that it would…_

_**A/N: **__Thanks again everyone for the great reviews for chapter 14. I got this one out in under 24 hours, so YAY me! Moving along in the story, the pace should, hopefully pick up. There is certainly more action in this particular chapter, and it sets up to have even more moving forward. Also, I describe a high-altitude jump in this chapter. I don't really know a lot about them myself, so I tried to do as much research as I could. If I screwed something up, please forgive me. Action isn't typically my forte, so I'm reaching a bit with that stuff. A big thank you to __**kroblues**__ for the beta. Kro helps me immensely and I always appreciate it. Also, a big thanks as always to __**Yokaputo**__ for her help in story development. I couldn't do it without you, Yok. Alright, I guess that about does it. I look forward to hearing what you think, and please enjoy __**Sarah vs. the Alternate Universe chapter 15!

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**Cast in order of appearance**

Sarah Walker..Yvonne Strohovski  
Alex Forrest……Tricia Helfer  
Chuck Bartowski….Zachary Levi  
Stacie Mangel…….Summer Glau  
Devon Walker……Ryan McPartlin

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**Secure Government Facility  
Moab, Utah  
December 14, 2007  
2:53 AM MST**

It was the middle of the night, but Sarah couldn't begin to sleep. Being strapped into her bed, and kept in a cage like an animal had begun to erode her psyche. The lone bright spot in her day had been the brief moment she'd gotten to talk with her brother and Chuck. They were, after all, the two most important men in the world to her.

She and Devon had been through so much together since their parents had left. They depended on one another. Sarah took solace in the fact, however, that Devon now had Ellie to take care of him. Ellie had quickly made her way into Sarah's heart just as she'd done to the male Walker sibling. The brunette really had come to feel like a sister to her. She'd miss them both, but knew that they'd make it by fine, together.

Chuck was a different story altogether. There had been times over the few months they'd known each other that Sarah thought that he might be the one to whom she could give _her_ heart. As much as they'd both tried to fight it, the feelings they had for one another were evident. She'd come to make Chuck a big part of her life. His smile was the greatest sight she'd ever seen. But with her now gone, Chuck wouldn't have anyone. He'd have to go back to the lonely life to which she could tell he was accustomed. That part hurt more than she thought it would. What hurt most, however, was that they would never get to explore just what the connection they shared meant.

All hope was not lost, however. Chuck would no doubt try to get her out of this dungeon. And she'd told the truth when she told him that she trusted him to do just that. And if anyone could pull it off, it would be Chuck. He was the most amazing person she'd ever met. But as much as she wanted to be set free, her greater hope was that Chuck wouldn't get hurt trying to rescue her. If she gained her freedom, but lost Chuck in the process, she'd never be able to live a happy and fulfilled life. It would always feel to her like it should have been him to live and not her. While she acknowledged that this was a very selfish attitude, as Chuck almost certainly felt the same way about her, Sarah had trouble feeling guilty about such thoughts.

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**One Hour East of Moab, Utah  
30,000 Feet  
December 14, 2007  
3:05 AM MST**

"Okay Bartowski, tell me again why you get to pull," demanded Forrest.

"Well Alex," Chuck began, as a sly smile started to take shape, "with me strapped to your back, if the chute doesn't open, you'll be sodomized on impact. I thought you would appreciate one last thrill before you checked out," he joked.

Forrest wasn't amused by the male agent's sense of humor. She showed her displeasure with a menacing scowl.

"What?" Chuck asked. "Look, as capable as you are-at like everything-you have no experience with HALO jumps into potentially hostile territory. I, on the other hand, have six high altitude jumps in militarized areas; four of those jumps have been low opening," he said.

"Fine," the NSA agent huffed in acquiescence.

"Clear skies, jumpers!" said the pilot as she came to give final instructions. "Alright, we're about fifty-five minutes out from where I'll be dropping you off. Now, I've never actually seen a tandem HALO jump in combat situations, but that's why I don't get paid to make decisions in this business. Agent Bartowski, I think I can count on you to make sure Agent Forrest knows what's going on. Good luck out there guys," she finished.

"Thanks Stacie. We'll see you in a few hours," Chuck answered as the pilot walked back to the cockpit of the bush plane. Turning back to his partner, his tone turned more serious than normal. "We need to start the O2 treatments soon. She's going to have us at 25,000 when we bail, and we'll be in free-fall for almost two minutes. I've never done this tandem jumping before, but we can't risk the attention two chutes would cause."

"And you just want me to wait with the plane?" asked Devon as he came from behind the spies.

"Devon, you need to stay with Stacie. When she lands and picks up the chopper for extraction, we need you on board in case of any –emergencies," Chuck said grimly.

"Like if one of you guys gets shot?" the doctor asked.

"Devon, I assure you –if anyone gets injured, it will be me or Forrest. Sarah will be safe," Chuck said confidently. In reply he received a solemn nod from Sarah's brother, who then returned to his seat.

Satellite surveillance had been able to identify a heavy guard presence near the entrance to the facility, which was on the westward side of the large containment wall that surrounded the building. By doing a low-opening jump, the two now rogue operatives would be able to evade any radar tracking, and slipping in from the eastward side of the compound, they would hopefully not draw the notice of any armed personnel before it was necessary.

When the DCH-3 Super Otter finally began to make its way over the designated jump area, Chuck and Forrest –suited, tethered, and oxygenated- pushed out of the plane and began their rapid descent towards the earth. Jumping was exhilarating in a way very few things were, but with the mission at hand, neither of them were able to enjoy the thrill. They knew that a lack of focus at any point of the jump, or the subsequent rescue could get one, or both of them killed. Or worse yet, a failure to focus _could_ get Sarah killed, and that was not acceptable.

If Chuck believed in karma, or luck, or a higher being he would have attributed their perfect landing atop the holding facility to them. But the life of an agent doesn't lead one to belief, and he would never cheapen accomplishment by attributing it to an outside force. Instead, he took a brief second to enjoy his small triumph and began the unharnessing process as quickly and quietly as possible.

When both of the spies were liberated from the jumping apparatus, they drew their firearms and began to make their way to the ventilation shaft atop the roof that they'd seen in the building's schematics. Forrest lowered herself into the vent first while Chuck covered their position. Once inside the vent, there was a ten foot immediate drop to the bottom of the piping. The male spy allowed a thirty count for his partner to have time to cover the distance and recover enough from the fall to move out of the way before beginning the descent himself.

As Chuck was taking the tumble, he looked down to see Forrest still in a position at the bottom of the tunnel. With nothing to grab onto, and no time to make any major maneuver, he opened his stance, hoping he could absorb some of the force of impact with his legs. It worked to a small degree, but his landing still caused a look of pain to splay itself on Alex's face.

The real shock however came a moment later, when the steel venting gave way under their combined weight, sending both of them crashing to the floor of the small room below. The partners landed with a thud, Chuck still sitting astride Forrest.

Regaining her breath, and taking stock of their position more than their location, Forrest was the first to speak. "Bartowski," she whispered, "you should stick to girls with computers for brains, because I'm not interested."

Chuck snorted quietly. "Come on, Alex, you know you want this," he whispered in return as he leaned in as though he would kiss her.

"Get off me," Forrest groaned. She pushed Chuck to the side, and for the first time began to look around the room to which their insertion had led them. She was surprised –pleasantly so- to find the room contained an entire wall of security monitors from around the building. "Holy shit, look at this Bartowski," she said, still in a hushed tone.

Chuck finally sat up from the floor and observed the wall of surveillance feeds as well. He immediately began to compare the details of the different video shots to the drawings of the building they'd studied during the trip. The building was fairly simple. It was well hidden, and very well guarded, so the logic was that most potential hostiles wouldn't be able to find the place, and those that did would be eliminated before they could even attempt to enter, making it unnecessary to make the interior difficult to navigate.

He took note of the long hallway along the second floor, which they were on. Just as on the floor plans, there were three doors along the far wall, and one door, the one to the communications room where they were, along the wall near. Next he looked over the feeds from the cells. Two were empty, but the third room's video showed Sarah strapped to her bed. She was apparently still awake despite the early hour as she had moved her head to look about the room on more than one occasion. What Chuck was very happy about, however, was the fact that she appeared to be in the cell nearest to their current location.

Her closeness would make extraction much simpler. There was a ladder leading to a roof exit in the room they were currently in, so escape would only have to involve moving across the hallway, getting Sarah, and holding off the armed personnel long enough for the helicopter to arrive for transport. _Now let's see if we can make it as simple as it sound_, Chuck thought. He checked the GPS unit on his communications unit to see if the chopper had made any progress yet. It showed that the bird _had_ taken off, but the ETA was still ten minutes out, so the hold would have to be substantial.

Thoughts of escape were temporarily put on hold as the door to the security room swung open to reveal a man in full body armor holding a cup of coffee. The intruder dropped his steaming hot beverage and reached for his sidearm. His feeble attempt at defending himself was in vain, as both Chuck and Alex had pulled their own pistols and fired a shot into his chest before he could even draw his gun. With the protection he was wearing, the attack most likely wouldn't kill him, but it had served to knock him from his feet, and apparently, unconscious.

Chuck quickly moved to the body of the fallen agent and dragged him into the room. He pulled the knocked out guard into the room and began to field strip him. He tucked the man's unused firearm into the waistband of his own pants, and tossed a spare fully loaded mag to Forrest. Then, using zip-ties found on the person of the man, Chuck secured the enemy's hands and feet and placed him by the wall away from the ladder to the roof. _Better safe than sorry_, he thought.

Even better than the extra firepower that had been gained from the defeated government guard, was the set of keys the man had. It was an advantage to have a less than intelligent opponent in most cases, and operation certainly fell within those parameters. Each key had been marked with the room number whose lock they matched. Sorting through the mess of keys he smiled as he palmed the one marked '212-B', the room that held Sarah.

Turning to his partner, Chuck motioned for Forrest to take the point. The NSA agent opened the door swiftly and stepped out into the hall with her gun at the ready should any hostiles appear. Chuck was right behind her and he quickly moved to the door across the way to move one step closer to freeing his charge, and the woman he'd unwittingly fallen in love with.

* * *

**Inside Sarah's Cell  
Moab, Utah  
December 14, 2007  
4:20 AM MST**

After hours of restlessly lying in bed –which given the restraints was all she was capable of- Sarah had finally fallen into a shallow sleep. That sleep, however, had been broken when she heard two thuds come from the roof above her. _What the hell_? she thought. _I have enough trouble getting any rest in this damn place, and when I do fall asleep, these assholes start working on the building at –well, whatever time it is._

She tried to put the noise behind her and focus on getting back to sleep. She reasoned that at least while in slumber, it was possible to _dream_ about being out of that God forsaken prison. This attempt at dozing off was interrupted by two loud _bangs_ coming from nearby. Shortly thereafter there arose a much louder crashing sound. Whatever was making the noise had to be very close now. Sarah began looking about as if she could identify the source of the noise. The attempt to do so was of course ridiculous and unsuccessful, so she lay her head back down and resigned herself to the fact that whatever had caused the commotion had already been dealt with.

Then the sound of a silenced gunshot –no, _two_ silenced gunshots came from just outside her door. _Okay, I can't be imagining this stuff, can I? Maybe I'm already losing it. I always thought it would take longer than this_, Sarah thought. Not long after than, however, her fears of insanity were assuaged as the door to her cell swung open to reveal…

"Forrest?!" Sarah had never been so happy to see anyone in her life. If you'd told her three months ago that she'd have that feeling for at the sight of Alex Forrest, she'd have never believed it, but it was true. Well, it was true until another person joined the NSA agent in the room. "Chuck?" she said in a much softer, but no less enthusiastic tone.

"Sarah!" he whispered back excitedly.

He quickly moved to release the restraints that were keeping her in the bed. Once she'd been released, the blonde threw her arms around her friend –the one that she secretly loved. The agent hugged her back with just as much ferocity. Moving her away slightly, he looked into her gorgeous blue eyes that were beginning to fill with tears.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"I am now," she choked out.

"Sarah, I –aw, fuck it," he said before pulling her back to him and into a furious kiss. Their hands never left one another as their lips and tongues began a quest for dominance over their counterpart. The two fell back onto the bed as they continued to make out.

At that point, Forrest had taken about as much as she could. "That's enough, dammit, there'll be plenty of time for that crap later," she admonished. "Right now, we have to get the hell out of here!"

The woman's angry address brought both Chuck and Sarah breathlessly from their passion fueled stupor. "She's right," Chuck said. "Let's get you out of here."

The CIA agent found it surprising, and a little disturbing, that there had been so little resistance from the government presence. What he didn't know, and couldn't know, was that the surveillance of the top floor being relayed to the ground floor had been compromised. What the guards below were watching was a looped video of Sarah asleep and everything clear.

This small bit of aid, wherever it may have come from, was enough to make the actual escape from the compound quite easy. Within moments, the agents and the asset were standing on the roof of the complex, awaiting their flying chariot. Moments later, the chopper swooped in from the sky, dropping to the landing surface there just long enough for the three to jump in.

As Stacie Mangel lifted the machine back off the ground, Chuck, Forrest, and Sarah all felt a sense of comfort for the first time in days.

That comfort would be short lived, unfortunately, as an unwelcomed guest awaited the arrival of Team Sarah back at the plane. They were far from being out of the woods just yet.

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_**A/N: **__Thanks everyone for reading! You guys are so good to me. What did I ever do to deserve readers like you? Well, I don't know, but I'm trying to pay all of you back with as many updates as possible. I don't know if that's a punishment or a reward, however, haha. Anyway, things are looking hairy, huh? Who interrupted the surveillance feed? And who is waiting back at the plane? And who framed Roger Rabbit…okay, you can not worry about that one. It won't be answered in this fic. Alright, that about does it for this chapter. Thanks again for reading, and I look forward to your reviews. You guys are awesome. Peace. _


	16. Chapter 16

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own Chuck. I'm really not feeling well enough to make any kind of witty remark of my lack of ownership, either, so sorry._

_**A/N: **Okay, if I had it all to do over again, this chapter would have been a part of chapter 15. They would have gone well together, and neither would have seemed short that way. But that's kind of the downside to trying to do daily updates. Sometimes, I wish I would have taken the extra day and just combined the work. But, too late now, and anyway, you can go back and read 15 again, and just put it together with 16, and then you have what I was talking about anyway, so... Alright, great reviews again for the last chapter. You guys really know how to motivate me. I really didn't feel like writing anything today, but I went back and read the reviews from yesterday, and I didn't feel like I had a choice. I didn't want to let all you fine readers down. So thank you for the motivation. Also, a big thanks to **Kroblues** for the beta on this chapter. Way to come through like you always do! Oh, and if you guys haven't read his work yet, he finished up another fine story today. You really should give him a read. I promise you won't regret it. Alright, I look forward to hearing what you guys think, and please enjoy **Sarah vs. the Alternate Universe chapter 16!

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**Cast in order of appearance**

Chuck Bartowski...Zachary Levi  
Sarah Walker..Yvonne Strahovski  
Alex Forrest........Tricia Helfer  
Devon Walker....Ryan McPartlin  
Stacie Mangel.......Summer Glau  
FULCRUM agent....Sam Rockwell  
Langston Graham......Tony Todd

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**Just outside Moab, Utah  
December 14, 2007  
5:15 AM MST**

Chuck's rational side knew that emancipating Sarah from her government sanctioned false imprisonment was only the beginning of the battle. The best case scenario he saw playing out was a flight of a few months eventually evolving into an overseas relocation with his asset/girlfriend, her family, their newfound friend Stacie the pilot, and Chuck's partner. Perhaps if Clinton or Obama were able to win the presidency enough personnel would change over to allow for a safe move back to the states.

The worst case scenario –well, he didn't really want to think about that one. That one involved a lot of shooting and five shallow graves filled with five "enemies of the greater good". As plans stood at this point, upon return to the plane, the group would fly out to a safe house Chuck had set up in Breckinridge, Colorado. There they would regroup and call in their contacts outside the agency to plot their next move.

There would be plenty of time for worry of what was to come later, however. For now, as they continued toward the parked DCH-3 Super Otter, he would just enjoy the feeling of the woman that rested in his arms. He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her head, savoring her presence. Even as he did, she burrowed deeper into his embrace. No words were spoken between them; words would be unnecessary.

The chopper began to touch down, and the collective inside prepared to make a fast break to the plane to avoid any unneeded recognition. Their attempt to stay inconspicuous, however, would be for naught. Already waiting at their exchange point was a group of FULCRUM assassins. Instinctively, Devon and Sarah flooded toward the exit, only to be held back by Chuck and Forrest.

"Wait here," Chuck instructed. "We still need to clear the area."

When the two spies left the helicopter to scout the area, the first shot was fired. The shot missed its mark, but served notice to the agents that they were not alone. They quickly fled back to the helicopter to seek cover and to protect the others. Bullets flew whizzed by them, kicking up dirt and pinging off the metal hull of the chopper.

Once the two agents had gotten back aboard, the hidden attackers finally emerged. The FULCRUM agents continued to shoot at the helicopter as Stacie lift them back off to try to avoid any further attack.

Chuck took up a position by the door and returned fire as best he could. He managed to take down five of the FULCRUM attackers before a shot by one of the rogues finally found its mark. Chuck fell backwards into the chopper, grasping at the gunshot wound that had been torn in his gut.

"Uh, guys, they hit something important," said Stacie from the cockpit. This drew the attention of the rest of the passengers.

"What did they hit?" asked Forrest.

"I don't know, but whatever it was –well, we're going down."

No sooner had the words been spoken than the helicopter began to drop like a rock. Fortunately, they hadn't been more than fifteen feet off the ground at the time, but the crash was still jarring for everyone. The effects were most severe to Chuck, who was already hurting from being shot.

Once the group collected themselves, Devon went immediately back to work on patching up the CIA agent, trying to ignore the group of armed men that were now charging their position.

"Hand over the Intersect and we'll all walk away unharmed," announced the apparent leader of the squad.

"Let me go with them. I can't let you guys get hurt for me," Sarah said quietly to her party.

"That's not an option, Walker. They'll kill us either way. And we're not even sure if they know you're the Intersect," Forrest answered her just as quietly.

Then a new voice boomed from behind the group of FULCRUM agents. "Sarah, I think you should come with us. No one else will get hurt as long as you come peacefully."

This new speaker sounded all too familiar. Forrest, Sarah, and an injured Chuck snapped their gazes to the center of the troops before them as the fifteen men split allowing for the passage of a very not dead Langston Graham.

"Um, guys, I think they might know I'm the Intersect," whispered Sarah. "Please just let me go, and you guys get the hell out of here."

"No," said Chuck. His words were forced through the pain from the shot he had taken. "I can't let you do that Sarah."

She looked down to her CIA protector, who was seemingly fighting for his very life, but still was more concerned for her. It was then that she made up her mind to do what she felt needed to be done. She pushed Devon out of the way and gently pressed her lips against Chuck's. Savoring in the taste of his kiss for what she thought might be the last time, it was hard to hold back the tears that thought threatened to bring to her eyes. Finally she pulled away and leapt from the downed aircraft.

Sarah ran right into the waiting force of FULCRUM operatives that had come to take her. She was quickly cuffed and the group began leading her away toward the SUVs they'd arrived in. For good measure, one of the soldiers jabbed her in the back with his rifle, causing a fit of laughter from the other FULCRUM agents.

One person who didn't find the action funny in the least was CIA agent Chuck Bartowski. When he saw the uncalled-for physical assault on the blonde, a rage erupted from deep within him. Suddenly the pain he had felt before became moot. He burst from the helicopter and rushed toward the retreating squad that held _his_ Sarah. The soldiers barely had time to react before the agent was on them.

The first two went down with one long sweeping heel kick. As the next in the line tried to take aim at the agent, Chuck ripped the rifle from his hand and hit him in the face with it, knocking the FULCRUM agent unconscious. The manic operative quickly raised the fun and fired off four quick shots, each taking down one of Graham's guard.

By this time, Forrest had made her way over to assist in the rushed rescue effort. Her pistol drawn, she managed to take down three more of the guards. The group that had originally stood at twenty strong was now down to just seven, and retreat seemed like the only option despite still having the odds stacked in their favor. These two agents clearly were not a normal force of two, and they still had Langston Graham, FULCRUM Elder to protect.

Sarah had managed to escape the clutches of the cabal before they could include her in their flight, and she ran to stand behind her handlers. Once Sarah was free, and FULCRUM on the run, Chuck dropped his combat position, and quickly went to check on his asset.

"Sarah, are you alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine. I'm not the one whose been shot!" she shouted. She was unable to take her eyes from the rapidly growing blood stain on this shirt.

"I'll be alright. I just had to –I couldn't let them have you. Not when I just got you," he answered, somehow smiling through the pain.

As the FULCRUM team fled to their waiting cars, the two agents, the asset, the doctor, and the pilot all quickly started making their way to the plane. As the black SUVs took off from the small, desolate air strip, one of the FULCRUM operatives fired off two more random shots. They were both successful. The first hit Forrest in the right hip, the second hit Chuck's upper arm. Both agents cried out in agony but continued their trek towards the airplane.

Once aboard, both agents collapsed on the floor. Devon pulled the steps in and shut the door to the cabin as Stacie started the engines. The doctor immediately turned around and went to work on his sister's injured protectors.

Chuck had completely bled through the bandaging the doctor had applied earlier, and thanks to the new wound in his upper arm that had clearly shattered his humerus, he was losing blood at an alarming rate.

Forrest's injury seemed to be more under control, but there was certainly damage to the hip joint. The makeshift work done to the wound would only hold so long, however. Both injured agents needed _real_ medical attention as soon as it could be arranged.

Because of this development, flight plans were altered to meet a medical transport set up by one of Forrest's contacts near the Colorado/Utah state line. Sarah sat by Chuck's side the entire flight, holding his hand. Although he was barely conscious, the two friends –well, much more than friends- appreciated the closeness.

When the plane landed, a medical unit rushed out to it and loaded the injured agents into the back of ambulances. Devon went with Chuck, who seemed to be in the worse condition, and Sarah was left behind with Stacie. After a few minutes of clearing everything up with the crew on the ground at the small airport, the pilot and the Intersect took the borrowed car that had been offered to them, and began driving to the hospital.

To Sarah, the events of the past few hours were just a blur, but one thing was abundantly clear: Chuck was hurt badly, and if he didn't make it, she'd forever feel guilty that he died to save her. And Chuck would never do anything to make her feel bad, so he would make it. She was sure of that. Well, she wanted to be sure of that.

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_**A/N: **Thank you guys for reading yet another chapter. I'm sorry that this one may have seemed a little short, but I've been kind of under the weather and really didn't feel like writing too much today. On the bright side, I don't suspect you'll have to wait long for the next chapter. Alright, thanks again, and I look forward to your feedback. You guys are awesome. Peace. _


	17. Chapter 17

_**Disclaimer: **__Don't own Chuck. I guess I should remind you again, more so out of habit at this point. I'm pretty sure you got the point the tenth or eleventh time I said that, but I'm not one to break with tradition._

_**A/N: **__Hi everyone! Wow, between writing something that was way out of character for me to write, and having to play in a stupid Pro-Am golf tournament, I have fallen behind in my updating. I am sorry for that, but to make up for it, this chapter is much longer than the last two, although still not uber long or anything. It's a decent length. Also, there is some Chrarah goodness, and some Sarah/Stacie bonding, and a lot of other cool stuff. You even get to find out a little more about the mysterious 'she' that Jill talked about a few chapters ago. I didn't get a beta for this, because it was Friday night, and I figure everyone is pretty busy. So all mistakes are completely my own. I do have to give a lot of credit as always to __**Yokaputo**__ for her excellent input on this chapter, and this story in general. She still won't let me call her the co-author, but I've decided to give her the executive producer credit, because, well…she deserves to get something. And by the way, why not take a few moments and send her a PM telling her how much you want her to work on her own story? I'm trying to get her to put it out, but I need some help here guys. Okay, that's all for me. Please review, and please enjoy __**Sarah vs. the Alternate Universe chapter 17.**_

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**Cast in order of appearance**

Stacie Mangel………..Summer Glau  
Sarah Walker…Yvonne Strahovski  
Devon Walker………Ryan McPartlin  
Alex Forrest……….Tricia Helfer  
Chuck Bartowski…..Zachary Levi  
John Casey………….Adam Baldwin

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**On route to Colorow Care Center  
Olathe, Colorado  
December 14, 2007  
7:30 AM MST**

"So you don't see that every day, huh?"

Sarah was startled by the sudden break in the silence of the car. "What's that?" she asked.

"You know, almost getting shot down by an F-16 that is being flown by someone with apparent Fulcrum connections. That's not something that happens every day. Well, at least I hope it's not something that happens every day. If that's happening to you even every other day then I would say you're life is a bit _too_ exciting," Stacie said.

This drew Sarah out of her inner thoughts that had been focused most on Chuck's injuries. "Wait, what? When did we almost get shot down?"

"Were you not paying attention at all?" Stacie asked. "The flight didn't seem a little bumpy to you? Like maybe I was trying to do a little evasive maneuvering? Not that I could have evaded an F-16 in a freaking bush plane, but I was trying."

_Not that I care at this point, but maybe there is something to this not being able to think clearly when you're compromised thing that Chuck always talks about. I really thought it was some kind of excuse, but if I was distracted enough to miss a pursuit by a fighter jet –wait, if we were being pursued by a fighter jet, _"How did we _not_ get shot down, then?" Sarah spoke aloud, hoping for some resolution to her thoughts.

"Ah, welcome to the conversation," chuckled the pilot. "Well, I figure you have some type of guardian angel or something."

"And what makes you say that?" questioned Sarah.

"Well, first of all there is the situation back at the holding facility. Forrest told me in the chopper that you guys got out of there without seeing but one guard. There is no way that should have happened." Stacie's voice had grown frantic and excited as she recapped the events of the day.

"And then we get back to the plane, and an F-16 is coming right at us, and then all of a sudden a Predator or a Reaper, well, some kind of UAV comes out of nowhere and blows that sucker out of the sky. Where the hell did a Predator come from? And better yet, how did they know a FULCRUM operative was flying it? Guardian angel, Sarah. That's the only explanation I can come up with."

"I don't know that there is any kind of angel, Stacie, but whatever it was, I'm glad it was looking out for me today. Now if it will just keep Chuck alright," she added sadly.

Stacie didn't know how to respond to Sarah's worry. Flying planes; helicopters; hell, anything that could get off the ground for that matter, she could handle. Consoling someone that was fearful for the life of someone they cared about, on the other hand, was not in her skill set. So the pilot was content to let the rest of the ride to the hospital pass in silence, and hopeful that good news would await them.

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**Unknown Location  
December 14, 2007  
6:30 AM PST**

A woman entered the room causing her companion to whip his head around suspiciously. She'd been gone for some time, and he'd grown accustomed to the solitude during the past couple of hours.

"So, what's the news?" the woman asked nervously.

"They got out, and now they're safe," replied the man.

"They have any more trouble?" she asked.

"Yes," he said simply. Then taking in her worried expression, he decided to expunge her fears. "But everything's fine now. They're safe."

The woman heaved a sigh of relief and disappeared back into the shadows of the hidden building, leaving the man to monitor the status of the team by himself.

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**Colorow Care Center  
Olathe, Colorado  
December 14, 2007  
7:45 AM MST**

The car had yet to come to a halt in the hospital parking lot before Sarah had leapt from the still moving vehicle and started a mad dash toward the emergency room doors. Stacie slammed the breaks on and parked the car where she was as she watched the blonde nearly knock over several people in her flight to the hospital's doors.

The pilot began to make her own way across the parking lot, but in a much calmer fashion. She even tried to apologize for her friend to the annoyed, and in some cases, frightened people that had dared to stand in the way of the Chuck seeking missile.

Sarah ran through the doors and down the hall, unsure exactly where she was going, but positive that she would figure it out soon enough. As she reached the end of the hall, she finally ran into a familiar face. Her brother was scrubbed up and looked prepared for surgery.

"Devon!" she called as she approached him. "Where's Chuck? How is he?" she asked frantically.

"Woah, calm down little sis," he said. His face then turned much more serious. "Listen, the Chuckster's lost a lot of blood, and he definitely has some issues with his internal stuff. He's being prepped for surgery right now, and the doctors here have agreed to let me sit in on it. I promise I'll let you know something as soon as there's news, alright?"

Sarah nodded in agreement, trying to hold back her tears of worry that threatened to fall. Just before Devon disappeared back behind the double doors to the emergency room, she called out to him. "Devon, wait!"

He turned back around to face her. "Yeah?" he asked.

"Take this," she said, slipping something into his pocket. "It's –it was mom's Saint Joan Medal. She gave it to me –well, before she left. It's supposed to protect soldiers. Please take it for Chuck. I don't know if I believe in any of that, but if it _might_ help"-

"I'll take it, Sarah." Devon knew how much that trinket meant to his sister. She never left the house without it. Sending it to "watch over" someone else was even more evidence of how much this guy had come to mean to her. Not that Devon doubted it before, but the little confirmation that was rattling around in his pocket as he made his way back to the operating room only hardened his beliefs in that regard.

As Sarah slowly turned to walk back towards the waiting room, she saw Stacie approaching her. It then dawned on her that in her mad dash to find out something, anything about Chuck, she'd neglected to get an update on her other teammate. A wave of guilt washed over the blonde as she realized that Devon was now too far away for her to go after him. Now she would have to remain in a state of worry for _both_ of her teammates.

"What's the matter?" asked Stacie with a worried voice as she approached.

"Oh, umm, Chuck's in surgery. He's lost a lot of blood, and they don't know how much damage was done just yet. They'll find out when they open him up."

"And Alex?" Stacie asked.

"That's what's the matter. I was so worried about Chuck that I forgot to ask about Forrest. She could be dying for all I know, and I didn't even ask," Sarah exclaimed with remorse. "I'm just a horrible person," she added, holding back a sob.

"You're not a terrible person, Sarah. Alex's injury didn't look that bad; I'm sure she's fine. And it is understandable that you would be so concerned for Chuck," the pilot said matter-of-factly.

"How do you mean?" Sarah asked.

"Oh, come on Sarah. You care about him. It's obvious. He cares about you, too."

"We're just friends," Sarah lied. It didn't even feel right to say it anymore. Truthfully, the "just friends" ship had sailed a long time ago, even if neither of them would admit it. Even had that not been the case, the attempt each had made to swallow the head of the other back at the government holding facility would have made that so.

Stacie wasn't buying her lie for a second. "Come off of it, please? You two are so stupid over one another it's almost nauseating. Friends will do anything for one another, but the look Chuck had in his eyes when he charged that group of FULCRUM operatives, completely ignoring the gaping hole in his stomach, wasn't the look of someone protecting a friend."

"We're friends," Sarah repeated. She took in the disbelieving look she received and decided to add something to try to pacify the other woman. "Look, Stacie, it's complicated. Alright?"

"Tell yourself whatever you have to tell yourself Blondie. The fact of the matter is, eventually, you, and not just you, but both you and Chuck, need to be honest with yourselves. You need to be honest with one another, too. You might be surprised what you learn." With that, the brunette turned on her heel and marched back to the waiting room area.

Trying to shake off the verbal beat-down she'd just received from the shorter woman, Sarah eventually made her way back there as well. Taking a seat beside the aviator, neither woman spoke, as they let a peaceful silence fall between them.

The thoughts swirling in Sarah's head, on the other hand, were anything but peaceful. She was hoping for the best and fearing the worst for Chuck. At the same time, she was very concerned for Forrest, seeing as there had been no update on the condition of the NSA agent because of Sarah's temporary negligence.

After what seemed like days, but in reality was only a couple of hours, Devon came into the waiting room to find Sarah and Stacie, resting comfortably next to one another. At some point, they'd fallen asleep, and after the day they'd had, he hesitated to wake them, but he knew they'd want to be informed.

"Sarah," he whispered as he shook the blonde lightly.

Sarah's eyes shot open as she took in the sight of her brother, who'd apparently showered and changed back into his jeans and sweater. He looked worn out, which after the day everyone had was understandable, but she was relieved to see that he also wore a big smile.

"Is Chuck okay?" Sarah asked, sleep still evident in her voice.

"He's going to be fine, sis. Looks like your lady here took good care of him," Devon said, holding up the Saint Joan medal Sarah had given him to hold for Chuck earlier.

She took the ornament back from him and returned it to her own pocket. "And Forrest? I can't believe I forgot to ask about her before."

"I'm just fine, Walker. Thanks for your concern," Alex said sarcastically as she rolled into the waiting room in a wheel chair. "Just some damage to the ligaments and some other soft tissue around my hip. Nothing I can't handle," she finished.

Turning her attention from the injured agent back to her brother, she asked, "When can I see Chuck?"

"Well, he's still under from the surgery, and he won't wake up for a while now. But you can go see him now if you want." Devon didn't have to say any more. Sarah was already on a beeline for the room of her protector, her friend, her not so secret love.

She walked into the dark hospital room and found Chuck hooked up to what seemed like too many machines, and an IV. She knew she would have to be careful, but she needed contact with him. She needed to know that he was real. That he was still there.

Pulling a chair from the corner to his bedside, she very carefully and very hesitantly took his hand in her own. After watching him rest peacefully –well, as peacefully as someone in a hospital can rest- she pulled the chair a little closer to the bed and lay her upper body softly next to his, and finally fell back to sleep herself.

That was how Chuck found her when he finally came out from under the affects of the anesthesia. At least he was pretty sure that it was Sarah. The fog he was in still was worse even than the confused feeling he'd had just a few days prior when waking up from being shot full of tranquilizer darts before Sarah's extraction.

He tried to call her name, but his throat was far too dry and scratchy to voice any words. Instead he squeezed the hand that held his own.

The slight pressure she felt stirred Sarah from her slumber. She sat up quickly from her slouched over position. Blinking rapidly, she tried to focus her eyes on the man beside her. "Chuck?" she mumbled.

Then realizing that his mouth and throat would no doubt be extremely dry, she quickly moved to the nearby table to retrieve the water pitcher. She poured him a cup full of the cool liquid, and opened the straw that had been provided. Returning the drink to him, she held the cup and straw to allow him to drink. And drink he did. He downed almost the entire cup of water before finally coming up for air.

"That's better," he said. Although his voice was still weak, at least he could form words now. "Sarah, how long was I out?"

"Umm," she looked at her watch, "about ten hours, I guess. You lost consciousness on the plane, and Devon said we had to get you to a hospital quickly, so we did."

"Where are we?"

"It's the Colorow Care Center," she answered. "It's just across the Colorado/Utah state line. Devon came in with you and Forrest, and everything seems to be taken care of. Forrest didn't think anyone would be able to find you guys here with your cover documents and all."

"How is Forrest?" Chuck asked worriedly.

"A hell of a lot better than you, you pussy," boomed the female agent's voice as she began rolling into the room.

Before she could say anything else, Devon came up from behind her, grabbing the handles to the wheel chair. "How about you and I take a walk Alex? I'm sure these two have some things they need to discuss."

As the door shut, both Chuck and Sarah were sure they heard a grumbled protest for the NSA agent. They were also both pretty sure there would be questioning of Devon's desire for Alex herself, and of his sexuality as the wheel chair was guided away from Chuck's room That thought made them both laugh.

The laughter and smile soon subsided from Chuck's face, as a much more serious expression took its place. "Sarah, you did something that was very stupid. You _cannot_ under any circumstance sacrifice yourself for me or Forrest. You're too important," he said exasperatedly.

"Well you risked _your_ health for me!" Sarah shouted. "What was that, huh Chuck? You went running after those FULCRUM guys with a gunshot…a real gunshot wound. You could have been killed! I did what I had to do to protect you and Forrest, and Devon and Stacie. One for four sounded like a good deal."

"It's not a good deal when it comes to you. You're far more important than me _or_ Forrest. It's our job to protect you."

"And just how will you do that job if you're dead?" she asked sarcastically.

"Sarah, I can't let anything happen to you. You're too important," he said in much calmer tone.

"Because of the Intersect?" she asked. She said the word 'Intersect' as thought it tasted bitter on her tongue.

"Yes," he said. But then taking a deep breath, he added, "But not only because of the Intersect. You're important to me because you're Sarah. I can't let anything happen to you. That's why I came to get you out of that bunker. I'll never let anyone hurt you. I promised you that, and I intend to keep that promise. I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to you."

"And you think _I _could live with myself if anything happened to _you_? I couldn't! I'm not more important than you, Chuck."

"Yes you are Sarah. Your life is _so_ much more important than mine."

"Not to me," she said, holding back tears. "Your life is more important to me, because –well- because I love you," she said, surprised that she'd finally been able to say it.

Chuck stared at her, his face a mixture of confusion and awe. It wasn't the first time someone had told him that they loved him. Jill had said it many times. There were girlfriends in college that had told him that they loved him. He even vaguely remembered his mom saying that she loved him. But there was something different about it coming from Sarah. It seemed more sincere. He knew that Sarah saying that she loved him was more than just pacifying his natural human need to feel love. She said it because she meant it. When she said that she loved him, it was because she in fact _did_ love him.

As the moments continued to pass, and Chuck's gaze continued to focus on Sarah, he saw that her face had begun to drop. More tears were welling up in her eyes, and they weren't the kind of despair as before, or tears of joy. These were tears of rejection. The look on her face was one of rejection. Only then did it occur to him that instead of returning, or even acknowledging her sentiments, he'd simply been staring at her. She thought that he didn't feel the same way. _Oh, shit. I have to fix this, quick._

"Sarah, oh my God. I love you too. I love you so much I can't even begin to tell you. I guess I kind of have since the beginning. I've always known you were special. It just"-

His words were cut off as the now smiling human Intersect leaned in to kiss him. She grasped his face, and although the kiss wasn't the heated, 'take-me-now' variety as they'd shared back in the bunker, it still didn't lack for passion.

After several minutes Sarah finally came up for air. She didn't go far, however, as she simply rested her forehead against Chuck's. He wrapped his good arm around her, and held her close, as they savored yet another moment together. It was a theme in their relationship. They never knew when the next moment may come, so each one needed to be enjoyed for as long as possible.

This moment, however, was brought to a crashing halt when the door swung open and a tall imposing figure made his way in.

"Good morning, love birds," said General John Casey. "I guess we have a lot to discuss."

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_**A/N: **__Thank you everyone for taking a few minutes out of your weekend to read my little story. I really appreciate all of the continued support I've been given, and I hope that I'm still entertaining you. For those that have asked, I plan on picking back up on my Destiny story as soon as this arc of AU is complete. This arc wraps up my "season one" and so I really wanted to focus on getting it done before I went back in another direction. I appreciate the patience. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it, and I look forward to your feedback. You guys are awesome. Peace. _


	18. Chapter 18

_**Disclaimer: **__I didn't own it in the beginning, and now at the end, I still don't own it. Things really haven't improved at all in that respect since I started._

_**A/N: **__Alright, folks. This is the final chapter for season one of the Sarahverse. I still haven't decided whether or not I plan to post season two inside of this same fic, or start a new one. Either way, it will continue the storyline from the end of this chapter. I'm leaning towards finalizing this one, but if you are opposed to that, let me know. I'm willing to listen to any arguments. Which leads me to my next point. Throughout this fic, you guys have been just beyond tremendous with your reviews and support. This is my most reviewed story, far and away, and although I haven't gotten quite as much traffic for this one as I did for Bryce and Jill, I imagine when it's all said and done, the numbers will be similar. It really is a lot of fun to write for a group of people that are enjoying the writing, and that support has really made me feel quite good. Thank you to all of the readers from the bottom of my heart. A special thank you to __**kroblues**__ for beta'ing this chapter for me. You're awesome, Kro, and I'm sure the writing bug will bite you again really soon. Also, thank you to __**Yokaputo and sm93starbuck **__for listening to my ridiculous ideas for this chapter and setting me straight. You ladies are the best. Okay, I'm done running my mouth now. Please enjoy __**Sarah vs. the Alternate Universe chapter 18!

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**_

**Cast in order of appearance**

Sarah Walker…Yvonne Strahovski  
Chuck Bartowski………Zachary Levi  
John Casey……………Adam Baldwin  
Alex Forrest…………..…Tricia Helfer  
Devon Walker…….Ryan McPartlin

* * *

**Colorow Care Center  
Olathe, Colorado  
December 14, 2007  
6:25 PM MST**

"Your life is more important to me, because –well- because I love you," Sarah said, surprised that she'd finally been able to say it.

Chuck stared at her, his face a mixture of confusion and awe. It wasn't the first time someone had told him that they loved him. Jill had said it many times. There were girlfriends in college that had told him that they loved him. He even vaguely remembered his mom saying that she loved him. But there was something different about it coming from Sarah. It seemed more sincere. He knew that Sarah saying that she loved him was more than just pacifying his natural human need to feel love. She said it because she meant it. When she said that she loved him, it was because she in fact _did_ love him.

As the moments continued to pass, and Chuck's gaze continued to focus on Sarah, he saw that her face had begun to drop. More tears were welling up in her eyes, and they weren't the kind of despair as before, or tears of joy. These were tears of rejection. The look on her face was one of rejection. Only then did it occur to him that instead of returning, or even acknowledging her sentiments, he'd simply been staring at her. She thought that he didn't feel the same way. _Oh, shit. I have to fix this, quick._

"Sarah, oh my God. I love you too. I love you so much I can't even begin to tell you. I guess I kind of have since the beginning. I've always known you were special. It just"-

His words were cut off as the now smiling human Intersect leaned in to kiss him. She grasped his face, and although the kiss wasn't the heated, 'take-me-now' variety as they'd shared back in the bunker, it still didn't lack for passion.

After several minutes Sarah finally came up for air. She didn't go far, however, as she simply rested her forehead against Chuck's. He wrapped his good arm around her, and held her close, as they savored yet another moment together. It was a theme in their relationship. They never knew when the next moment may come, so each one needed to be enjoyed for as long as possible.

This moment, however, was brought to a crashing halt when the door swung open and a tall imposing figure made his way in.

"Good morning, love birds," said General John Casey. "I guess we have a lot to discuss."

Sarah fell backwards from the bed in a mad scramble to return to her chair; Chuck, with nowhere to go, tried to avert his eyes from those of the NSA director.

As General Casey began to silently make his way across the room, the door burst open again. This time it was Agent Forrest in her wheelchair that came barreling into the room. "Guys, we need to move, I just saw"-

"Yeah, we know," said Sarah to Alex's unfinished declaration.

"Well, now that the gang is all here, I guess we can begin," said the General. No sooner had he spoken the words, however, than another body came rumbling through the door. "Dr. Walker, so nice to finally meet you," said Casey in a strained voice through clenched teeth.

"Oh, um, you kind of left me there, Alex," Devon said, ignoring the intimidating man Forrest had seemed to freak out about seeing.

"Well, since you obviously are now in on our little secret here, I suppose it only makes sense to include you as well," General Casey said begrudgingly. "I suppose I should start with my agents. On the record, I am quite disappointed in the both of you for abandoning orders, and attacking a secure facility of the United States." A look of panic began to pass between the two partners. Had they really misread the General that badly? "Or I should say I _was_ disappointed until all of the details came to light."

"Details, General?" Chuck asked.

"Of course I am speaking of the heroic effort the two of you ventured upon to protect the Constitutional rights of a United States citizen, and in the process, prevent the abduction of the country's greatest intelligence asset from a domestic terror group. How you two figured out that this extraction plot was all a plan put into place by Fulcrum to capture the Intersect, I'll never know."

Forrest decided to speak up first. "In all fairness, General"-

"I said, I'll never know," Casey repeated, casting a knowing look towards the two agents. They seemed to get the hint, and didn't try to speak any further. "Unfortunately, the Intersect program has been taken from under the control of the NSA and the CIA. While the program will continue, you two will now report to the Director of National Intelligence."

"So we go straight to General Beckman now?" Chuck asked.

"Not exactly," General Casey answered. "Because it was Beckman that allowed for Fulcrum's plot to be put into place, she was 'allowed' to step down from her position with honor. You will no longer report to the Director of the NSA. Now, you will report to the _new_ Director of National Intelligence. Oh, yeah, that's me," he said with a gruff chuckle.

"Are you serious? Congratulations, sir," said Forrest.

Casey grunted acknowledgement of the ass kissing his agent was attempting to give him. He'd already let her off Scott free; what else did she want? "As for you, Ms. Walker, we have different matters to discuss." The rest of the parties in the room collectively held their breath waiting on the General to finish.

"I guess I'm going to another bunker," Sarah said dejectedly.

"The hell you are," General Casey stated firmly. His pronouncement drew a look of surprise from everyone.

"Now that I am in control of this project, you'll be going no such place. I can assure you that despite being a tough son-of-a-bitch, I will never strip any American of their rights as provided by the Constitution of this great nation. Besides that, I am of the personal belief that you are far more valuable to us out in the field than strapped down in some jail in the middle of 'Bum Fuck Egypt'."

"So what are we to do, then General?" Chuck asked.

"Well, Bartowski, _you_ don't appear to be in any condition to do anything at the moment." He looked over the wheelchair bound NSA agent. "You either Forrest, for that matter. That is why starting now; the both of you will take two weeks off to heal up. I will allow you to return to New York for your convalescence in order to maintain your covers. Seeing as how neither of you are really in condition to protect the asset, however, I will be assigning a group of low level agents to overlook Walker's safety."

"But General"-

Chuck was cut off before he could interrupt further. "They will only observe her from afar, and will have no knowledge of the operation. They will simply know her to her a person of interest to be protected."

"And when we're cleared, we go back into the field?" Alex asked.

"Well, yes and no. At the end of your two weeks off, you will begin a new phase of this operation."

"A new phase, General?" Sarah asked.

"Yes, Walker. With the revelation of Graham's involvement in Fulcrum, and certain other facts that have come to light from other sources of ours, we have come to realize that the Fulcrum threat is far greater than we'd first realized. This means you are more important to us than ever, Sarah. We need you to learn to do more on your own. We need you to become much more than you've been so far."

The asset and the agents looked on with confused expressions. None of them knew exactly what the General was getting at just yet.

"It will now be your assignment, Agents Forrest and Bartowski, to train the asset. Sarah, it's time for you to become a _real_ spy."

"A real spy?" Sarah asked with surprise.

"Yes, Sarah. Now, if you all will excuse me, I have a plane to catch. And to be honest, this place makes me uncomfortable; and all of you have some vacation to get started on. I wish you a speedy recovery, Agents Forrest and Bartowski." Casey paused, looking at the blonde sitting at Chuck's bedside with a befuddled look on her face. "And I wish you luck moving forward, Agent-in-Training Walker." With those words, the General took his leave. In his wake he left a room silenced by shock.

Devon then spoke up for the first time since entering the room. "Sarah? You're going to be a _real_ CIA agent? Know what little sis? I think that's"-

"Awesome?" Forrest asked with a grin.

Everyone in the room busted out in a big belly laugh, finally letting go of the tension of the day. After the laughter subsided, however, Chuck's and Sarah's eyes met as they silently communicated the need to talk about this new development. Forrest and Devon picked up on the non-verbal signals the two were given and quietly excused themselves from the room.

Sarah was the first to speak. "So…"

"Yeah," Chuck said. "Congratulations I guess," he said apprehensively.

"For what?" Sarah asked.

"Well, you're going to be an agent now. The fact that the General has so much faith in you is an honor."

"But…"

"But nothing. It really is a great honor. I'm really proud of you," Chuck said, unable to meet Sarah's gaze. Finally he willed himself to be honest with her. "Okay, fine. I'm just worried about you. I'm worried about you in a lot of different ways. Obviously, I'm always concerned about you putting yourself in danger, which is something you will be asked to do a lot in your new role. Most of all however, I'm worried about what this job will do to you."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"You'll be asked to do things that you don't want to do. You'll have to do things that are so not Sarah. I just don't want them to change you. I kind of like who you are," he said with a shy smile.

"Chuck, I promise you I won't let them change me. If for no other reason, then for you. If you want me to stay the same, then that's what I'll do. I kind of like you too, after all," she answered with a teasing look.

"Okay, as long as you promise. I know you'd never break a promise to me," he said. "But are you sure this is what you want, Sarah?"

"No Chuck. I'm not sure at all," she said with a sigh. "What I want is a normal life. And I want a great guy to share that life with. But if I can't have both of those things, one out of two ain't bad. And honestly, given the choice, I'd prefer the latter. Besides, with you here, I can do anything."

"You don't need me, Sarah. You could already do anything," he argued.

"Maybe," she said playfully. "But I like having someone to share it with."

"I like that too," he said, grabbing her hand and squeezing it with his good hand.

* * *

**Chuck's Hotel  
New York, New York  
January 19, 2008**

"Is that the last box?" Chuck asked as he held the door for Sarah.

"Yes, it is. And I don't seem to recall the doctor saying that you couldn't lift things with your good arm. Remind me again why I had to take all of this stuff up myself?" Sarah asked indignantly.

"Well, that lapse in memory is exactly why _you_ are an agent-in-training, and I am the CIA's best operative. You'll learn to listen and retain better as you progress," he answered teasingly.

"Oh yeah? Well if you 'retain' that stupid grin you have on your face much longer, I may decide it's time to test my hand to hand skills. I haven't faced a one-armed opponent yet; I'm sure that situation may come up at some point in the field," she shot back.

"Threats will get you nowhere, rookie. Don't forget who's in charge of your PT this week. And you're not going to trick me into cutting conditioning short by suggesting extra time at the shooting range like you do with certain other members of the team." He noticed the guilty smile that crept slowly onto her face. "That's right; I'm on to your little tricks. Don't think you can get anything by me."

"I don't doubt that you're on to my tricks. Doesn't mean I can't get one over on you," Sarah said.

"How's that?" Chuck asked.

"Well, I might not be able to lure you to the shooting range, but I'm _quite_ sure I can come up with some…other activities you might be inclined to let replace our normal routine," she answered seductively.

"Is that right, Agent Walker?" he asked, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her close to his body.

"You know that it is, Agent Bartowski," Sarah whispered seductively.

Then their eyes met, and when brown met blue, they both knew exactly where they were headed.

Thirty minutes later, as they both lay spent, Sarah settled her head into the crook of Chuck's neck and wrapped her arm possessively across his bare chest. She looked up briefly and planted a quick kiss on his jaw. "I think I'm going to like living with you," she murmured as she drifted off to sleep.

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_**A/N: **__Thank you guys so much for reading my little fic. I have a lot of fun stuff still planned for this universe, and I hope you'll stick around for the ride. As for right now, I will probably go back to my Destiny story, in the Ashes storyline. I know a lot of my readers were readers of that one as well, and I'd like to apologize for the delay on that fic, and thank you for your patience while I wrapped things up here. I look forward to your feedback on what you thought of this, the last chapter of Sarah vs. the Alternate Universe, and what you thought of the story as a whole. I really do value all of the reviews I get. Alright, for now, and until we meet again, you guys are awesome. Peace._


	19. Chapter 19

_Disclaimer: I don't own "Chuck", and the mere fact that I would bastardize canon like I have in this fic is clear proof of that fact!_

_A/N: Okay guys, you were patient, and now, your patience has paid off. At least, I hope it has paid off, as I hope you like what it has earned you. What your patience has earned you is the first chapter of the second season of Sarah vs. the Alternate Universe. Just to catch you up quickly, at the end of the first season, Sarah had agreed to General Casey's plea to become a "real spy". Sarah and Chuck have admitted their feelings for one another, and currently, Sarah's handlers, Chuck and Alex Forrest, are recovering from injuries they suffered while trying to rescue Sarah, first from her own government, and then from Fulcrum. A big shout out to my friend __**Zeretica **__who is the reason this chapter was written. She's been a big supporter of this fic from the time it started, and I promised her I'd get her a chapter of season 2 out, and here it is, Z. I hope you'll like the start here, everybody, and please review. Thanks!

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_

**Cast in order of appearance**

Sarah Walker…Yvonne Strahovski  
Chuck Bartowski…Zachary Levi  
Alex Forrest…Tricia Helfer  
Devon Walker….Ryan McPartlin  
Ellie Carmichael…Sarah Lancaster  
Mason Whitney… Sanjaya Chandani

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**Sarah vs. the Alternate Universe: A Very Sarah Christmas Part 1**

**Casa Walker  
West Village, New York  
December 25, 2007**

_Merry Christmas to me, _Sarah thinks silently to herself, as she wakes up once again in what is fast becoming one of her favorite places in the world: snuggled against Chuck with his good arm wrapped protectively around her. Sarah's training won't begin for several more days, and in the mean time, the human Intersect is determined to soak up every last moment of down time that the team has with her _real_ boyfriend.

She lets out a deep, contented sigh as she snuggles deeper into Chuck's embrace. It has been too long since she's had something like this. _Not that I've ever had anything _quite_ like this. _

Chuck stirs just slightly. He is generally a light sleeper; years of being a spy kind of yields that behavior. But between the pain medication he is on for his shoulder, and sense of security, and belonging that he feels lying next to Sarah, it is difficult to be on his guard as much as he usually would be.

"_It better just be the medicine. You know what it means if you're off your game because of her. You want to stay around? You have to tighten up!" _Chuck admonishes himself.

He shakes off the negative thoughts and presses a small kiss to the back of Sarah's neck. She shudders at his touch, and immediately turns her bright blue eyes to face him.

"Merry Christmas, Chuck," Sarah says softly.

"Merry Christmas," Chuck replies.

They lean in to kiss one another, but just as their lips touch, the door to Sarah's bedroom swings open.

"Merry Christmas to you, too," Alex Forrest dead-pans. "I've been sent to retrieve the two of you. It's urgent."

Sarah and Chuck scramble out of the bed. Forrest can't help but notice that they're both still fully clothed, and honestly, she's relieved, if a bit surprised. After the NSA agent told Bartowski that surveillance on Walker's room would no longer be necessary when he was there, Forrest assumed that the other two members of her team would be getting horizontal as soon and as much as possible.

"General Casey wants to talk to us this morning? On Christmas? I think it's Christmas for the bad guys, too," Sarah says with annoyance as she's slipping on her shoes.

"Terrorism doesn't take a day off, Walker," Forrest says gruffly. "But no, the general didn't call. That's not the urgent matter."

"Then?" Chuck asks.

"Ellie made chocolate-chip pancakes and ordered me to bring you two to breakfast, post-haste." Alex chuckles to herself as she walks back down the hall of the apartment. That was every bit as fun as she thought it would be.

Breakfast went by with very little conversation. Devon and Ellie have taken the news of Sarah's secret life as well as could be expected, but the change in their perception of the younger Walker has put them on eggshells when the two doctors are around the team of spies. Neither Devon nor Ellie are sure what is alright to talk about, and they're even less sure that they can ever get a straight answer about anything.

After breakfast, the collected gather in the living room to open presents. The rapid progression from cover to real relationship hasn't left a lot of time for the proper upgrades in gifts from Chuck or Sarah, but neither of them seems to mind.

The title for gift giver of the year is taken by Devon, however, when after all of the presents have been given out he pulls one last package from his pocket.

Sarah knew it was going to happen. She has been holding onto their great-grandmother's ring for over a week now so that Ellie wouldn't find it in any of Devon's normal hiding spots. Chuck knew it was going to happen, because Sarah _had_ to tell someone. Forrest knew it was going to happen, because, well, she's Alex Forrest, and it's her job to know things other people try to keep as secrets.

Ellie, on the other hand, is completely surprised. Such is the value in trusting your secrets to people that are professional secret keepers, and it pays off in Devon's favor, this time.

Plans are made for a celebration later on. Dinner, drinks, dancing, and general merriment will be had by all.

* * *

**That night, on the streets of Manhattan…**

"I still can't believe you kept this a secret!" Ellie exclaims, wrapping Sarah in a hug from behind. Sarah, who has been walking hand-in-hand with Chuck, turns to face her brother's fiancée.

"Well, it's kind of what I do, Ellie," the blonde replies nonchalantly.

"Well you're the best, sis!" Ellie says excitedly. Part of the excitement no doubt comes from intoxication from the drinks they've just enjoyed, but then, Ellie really has never needed alcohol to reach another level of excitement of which few are capable.

The outpouring of emotion is a little more than Sarah is comfortable with. She really loves Ellie, and she loves Ellie with her brother, but the constant, unyielding joy is something beyond the reach of the blonde.

"Hey," Ellie says, keeping Sarah's attention. "Pretty soon, you _will_ be my sis!"

"That I will," Sarah answers, forcing a light laugh.

Sensing his asset-come-girlfriend's discomfort, Chuck decides to step in.

"Sarah, can you help me with something?" he asks, trying to pull her away from the Ellie onslaught.

Ellie, however, refuses to be deterred from her verbal blitz on her boyfriend's sister, and Chuck's interference only draws him into the path of the storm.

"And if you play your cards right, bucko, you might be my brother at some point," the brunette points out to Chuck. "Of course, if you two are ever going to get to _that_ point, there are some other things you need to take care of first."

Both Chuck and Sarah stare at her, confused expressions on their faces.

"Sex!" Ellie blurts out. "Don't think I can't tell. I might not be a," suddenly, the lady doctor realizes how loud her voice has gotten, and quiets her tone to a whisper. "I might not be a spy, but I'm fairly perceptive. You guys _still_ haven't slept together. Oh, you've _slept_ together, but not the way you're supposed to."

"Ellie? Babe? Not awesome," Devon interrupts, trying his best to come to the rescue of the two spies who are now beet-red with embarrassment.

"What? Devon, you know as well as I do that they're not doing it. And I don't know why!" Ellie exclaimed. "I promise, you'll like it, guys," she says, turning towards the younger couple.

Before Ellie's "birds-and-the-bees" talk can continue, a ruckus breaks out in a group of people just ahead of the celebratory party. The crowd that has gathered on the sidewalk parts slightly to allow a stumbling man to make his way through. The seemingly intoxicated individual takes two more awkward steps before collapsing to the ground.

In an instant, pleasantly drunk Ellie switches into doctor mode. The ER physician in her is immediately on top of the stranger, checking him for any sign of what might have caused the fall.

As Ellie works up the stricken man, she pulls his wallet from his back pocket and tosses it to Sarah, instructing the blonde to look for any type of drug information, or anything at all really that can help with his care. What Sarah finds instead is a government ID for one Mason Whitney. The identification card causes a stir within Sarah's mind, and she' suddenly beset an onslaught of images.

_An ostrich  
Mason Whitney's employee record  
Plans for nuclear weaponry  
An ostrich_

Before Sarah can say anything to pull her future sister in-law away from the victim, who the blonde now believes to be a less than savory character, an ambulance is on the scene, loading Whitney into the back with Ellie jumping in behind him.

Sarah begins to panic. She knows she can't let Ellie pull away with this guy that could very well have some nefarious intentions. But before the younger woman can fully regain her bearings from the flash, the ambulance is away, and any chance to get Ellie free and clear of danger has passed.

"We have to go after her!" Sarah says.

"What, why?" asks Devon.

"She – she could be in danger," Sarah says lamely.

"She'll be fine, Sarah, I promise. Ellie's a doctor. It's what we do. We save people's lives," Devon assures her.

"Yeah, I'm sure she'll be fine, Sarah. Ellie is a professional," Chuck says, adding to the conversation for the first time.

"No, I know," Sarah says, frustrated that she's not getting her point across. "Listen – Devon, Chuck – Ellie's in trouble, okay? Trust me."

Sarah turns a hard gaze to her male companions. It takes only a moment for what she's implying to sink in with Chuck. Devon takes a little longer to see the true meaning behind his sister's words, but when it finally dawns on him what she's saying, his eyes grow wide, and he begins a small panic of his own.

"Wait, you mean," Devon leans in close to Sarah, and lowers his voice to a whisper, "spy stuff?"

Sarah nods her head slowly, her face showing the potential severity of the current situation.

"Then what the hell are we waiting for? Let's go!" Devon exclaims, stepping to the curb to try to flag down a cab.

* * *

_A/N: Okay, so it was a little short, but I think that's a good stopping point, and it will lead right into the action of this "episode". I'll warn you up front that season 2 is not going to be all sunshine and rainbows for our couple. They'll have to work through some tough issues, if they want to stay together. You'll see a number of familiar faces in this season, and some new ones that I've made up! Hopefully you'll enjoy the ride. So now it's time for the bad news. You friend Wepdiggy will be shipping out for basic training (Army training, sir) soon (I'll know when tomorrow), and when that happens, I'll be away for quite awhile. I'll try to put a notice on this story, and my other serials before I leave, but I'm just giving you fair warning that at some point, it may go a little while without updates. I'm sorry about that, but real life calls sometimes. Thank you so much for reading my little story, and I look forward to your feedback. You guys are awesome. Peace. _


End file.
